Study observes plant communication via volatile compounds absorbed through stomata.
#science #plants #biology #botany #communication
Tag: Biology
Why it’s so hard to get rid of Argentine ants.
Meet the worst ants in the world
Why it’s so hard to get rid of Argentine ants. Also some interesting insights on how founder-effect genetic bottlenecks can change the behavior of species as they move into new ecosystems. In their original habitat, each colony fights each other ruthlessly. But when a colony hitches a ride on a ship or train and expands in a new region, all that region’s ants descend from the same colony and read each other as friends, not foes.
Mitochondrial Eve
Comment in response to The 10 Most Successful Failures in Geekdom
Apologies in advance for the nitpicking, but this is one of those things that Just Bugs Me(tm), and it seems to come up every time the BSG finale is mentioned.
The “Mitochondrial Eve” concept doesn’t mean everyone else died out. It’s finding a common ancestor based on the fact that we only inherit mitochondria from our mothers.
Start with two families. One has all girls, or a mix of girls and boys. The other has all boys. The mother who has girls? Her grandchildren will inherit her mitochondria. The mother who has all boys? Her mitochondrial line will disappear, even if she has more grandchildren than the first.
One character being Mitochondrial Eve doesn’t mean every other family died out. It just means that over time, each other line had at least one generation of all boys.