Category: Uncategorized
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Choosing the right time to flower
The fall crocus (Colchicum autumnale) is visible all over Denmark now, making a strange sight – a plant with large flowers and no leaves, blooming just a few days before the first frost is likely to occur. The timing of flowering in plants is very important to their evolutionary fitness – the wrong choice can…
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A rare invitation
Some invitations are sufficiently singular to merit an initial look of disbelief. Such was the one I recently received from the Zoologisk Museum (part of the Københavns Universitet). It was an invitation for a zebra barbecue. Let me say, simply, that it was the first party I have ever attended in a dissection room.
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A disturbance in the forest
The forests of Scandinavia look beautiful in the autumn. What secrets do they hold? Color changes are beginning. The red coloration you see here is surprising, because it is mostly North American species that turn red – European species are overwhelmingly more likely to turn yellow. The explanation for this pattern remains a matter of…
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X-rays and leaves
X-rays aren’t just for peering at broken bones. A few years ago I wondered if they could also be used to look at the structure of leaves – especially the venation network, which is the plant’s equivalent of a skeleton combined with a circulatory system. Looking at leaf veins with x-rays is an attractive idea…