Putting knowledge of plants to work
as scientists study trees and other plants they are making some exciting discoveries a scientist at north carolina state university has genetically modified aspen trees to reduce the lignin content by 45 to 50 percent this has the potential to save the pulp and paper industries more than 6 billion dollars a year in the cost of turning wood into paper most of these savings would in the processing and chemical costs of separating woods cellulose from lignin the glue that binds a trees fibers these transgenic trees would also have environmental advantages because separating lignin from cellulose requires harsh alkaline chemicals and high heat source north carolina state university our green planet issue 5 explores how plants evolved and adapted to living in different conditions once they developed a root system and could leave the sea animations show how plants vascular systems transport water and minerals throughout the plant and how green plants manufacture nutrients through photosynthesis they illustrate how some plants living in nutrient deficient soils developed other mechanisms for sustenance one of these plants is the venus flytrap and close-up photography shows how it feeds on insects and even small frogs that it catches in its leaves the program also demonstrates how trees evolved from the first land plants because the wood pulp or lignin in the roots of these plants is the same substance needed to form a hard tree trunk some of the worlds largest trees are featured to illustrate the great heights some plants have reached this includes two modernday trees that have grown since the time of the dinosaurs the wollemi pines in australia and the giant sequoias we also learn how the sequoias have continued to grow with the help of forest fires because their pinecones drop seeds only at extremely high temperatures the properties of fuels and gases issue 6 illustrates the properties of several fuels and gases and the characteristics that make them useful for different purposes experiments and animations show how gases spread out to fill the containers theyre in how they can be compressed and that all gases have weight it explains how a gass smell is due to the molecules of its matter being released and diffusing through the air how long it takes for an odorous gas to spread out across a room and how odorant is added to odorless gases as with natural gas to alert people to the presence of this gas which burns easily the program also discusses how properties of a gas determine how it is used while helium and hydrogen are both lighter-than-air only helium is used to fill balloons while hydrogen is used as a fuel because it is explosive demonstrations show how carbon dioxide is compressed and used to quickly inflate a large raft or to put fizz in soda pop we also see how gases can be turned to a liquid state and take a behind-the-scenes trip to a soda-bottling factory the properties of fuels and gases issue 6 illustrates the properties of several fuels and gases and the characteristics that make them useful for different purposes experiments and animations show how gases spread out to fill the containers theyre in how they can be compressed and that all gases have weight it explains how a gass smell is due to the molecules of its matter being released and diffusing through the air how long it takes for an odorous gas to spread out across a room and how odorant is added to odorless gases as with natural gas to alert people to the presence of this gas which burns easily the program also discusses how properties of a gas determine how it is used while helium and hydrogen are both lighter-than-air only helium is used to fill balloons while hydrogen is used as a fuel because it is explosive demonstrations show how carbon dioxide is compressed and used to quickly inflate a large raft or to put fizz in soda pop we also see how gases can be turned to a liquid state and take a behind-the-scenes trip to a soda-bottling factory tory of fuels from the first fire lit by lightning to todays fossil fuels we get a close-up look into a coal mine and see how natural gas is piped across the land to provide fuel the video also discusses some alternative fuels including hydrogen and the use of biomass.
