A Plant That Can Smell

BlueCup writes "The question of how a dodder finds a host plant has puzzled researchers. Many thought it simply grew in a random direction, with discovery of a plant to attack being a chance encounter. But the researchers led by Consuelo M. De Moraes found that if they placed tomato plants near a germinating dodder, the parasite headed for the tomato 80 percent of the time. And when they put scent chemicals from a tomato on rubber, 73 percent of the dodder seedlings headed that way. Turns out, it sniffs out it's prey."

Comments

"it sniffs out it's prey."

[Anonymous Coward]

C'mon, even TFA has "its" spelled correctly in the first sentence. You can do better, Slashdot editors and/or article submitter!

Lemme rephrase that.

You can do better, article submitter!

FIRST

[Anonymous Coward]

FIRSTPOST

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

[The Lyrics Guy]

(note - I'm convinced that when this song is done right, it's quite possibly one of the top songs ever written/sung)

George Harrison - While My Guitar Gently Weeps

I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping
Still my guitar gently weeps

I don't know why nobody told you
How to unfold your love
I don't know how someone controlled you
They bought and sold you

I look at the world and I notice it's turning
While my guitar gently weeps
With every mistake we must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps

I don't know how you were diverted
You were perverted too
I don't know how you were inverted
No one alerted you

I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
Look at you all...
Still my guitar gently weeps

Is that a whiff of ... creeping apostrophitis?

[ScentCone]

Turns out, it sniffs out it's prey
Yes, but can it sniff out the difference between "it's" (it is) and "its" (the thing that belongs to it)? Come on, now, it's just one stinking paragraph to edit!

That being said, I've often observed, in the jungle-like Maryland suburbs, the seemingly impossible reach and accuracy of certain smothering, viney plants. The twisty, strangling, inescapable spread of warm, fuzzy-looking faux-friendliness - it's amazing. And that's just the PTA members! You should see the Kudzu!