Garden Gnome's adventures

Do you love totally useless but entertaining bits of news? Are you the kind of person that remembers lots of that kind of information but sometimes looses track of the really important issues of life? In that case you'll love the following bits of information!

Martian soil appears to contain sufficient nutrients to support life - NASA scientists believe. Although further tests would have to be conducted, the soil seems "very friendly.... there is nothing about it that is toxic". It is the type of soil you would probably have in your back yard - you know, alkaline. You might be able to grow asparagus in it really well. The green kind, I recon........

On May 3rd the police arrested two teenagers in Capelle aan den IJssel because they adorned a roundabout with dozens of garden gnomes and other statues. They had stolen them from private gardens. Owners could recover their traumatised gnomes at the local police station........

Scientists with the European Space Agency (ESA) say the day when flowers bloom on the moon has come closer. They have shown that marigolds can grow in crushed rock very like the lunar surface, with no need for plant food. Scientiest can now look to go further, by selecting plants or bacteria that are especialy well adapted to lunar conditions, or even by genetically engineering new strains. Some within ESA see growing plants on the moon as a step towards human habitation.

Plants don't get the respect they deserve. At least that's the opinion of a group of Swiss scientists that occupies itself with putting together a "declaration of the rights with regard to the dignity of creatures of the plant world". According to this ethical committee for non-human gen technology the killing of plants is morally rejectable, unless it's done to save a human life (eh, wat about salads?). Picking the leaves of flowers, however, is considered acceptable. Also the genetic alteration of plants is permitted, as long as the autonomy of the plant isn't affected. This means the possibilities of plants to adapt or reproduce.

Birds know to sing in the spring because of hormones triggered by longer days. Researches have identified how part of a bird's brain is affected by seasons. They found the part of the brain that releases a hormone in spring in readiness for mating. The bird then begins to sing more often to attract potential partners. Reseraches used a genome chip to scan 28,000 genes from the japanese quail, which had received varying lengths of light corresponding to short and longer days. They discovered that genes in cells on the surface of the brain were switched on when the birds received more light.

Also for plants city life asks for adaptations. French researchers discovered that urban dandelions make much less fluff thant their rural counterparts. This is an evolutionary adaptation to a world of concrete, they say. It's the nature of this plant to make two kinds of seeds: light ones with a tiny parachute and havier ones without a parachute. The first get transported by the wind and the second fall straight to the ground. City plants make much less parachutes. The reason for this is, according to the researchers, that they can only grow on small patches of soil under street trees and in the creases between stones. Genetic research shows that this evolutionary change has happened remarkably fast: in only 12-15 generations!

Hundreds of medicinal plants are at risk of extinction, threatening the discovery of future cures for disease. Over 50% of prescription drugs are derived from chemicals first identified in plants. Many plants are now at risk from over-collection and deforrestation. Some examples:

• Yew tree: Cancer drug paclitaxel is derived fromt he bark, but it takes six trees to create a single dose so growers are struggling to keep up.
• Hoodia: Plant has sparked interest for its ability to suppress appetite, but vast quantities have already been "ripped from the wild" as the search for the miracle weight drug continues.
• Magnolia: has been used in traditional chinese medicine for 5,000 years as it is believed to help fight cancer, dementia and heart disease. Half the world's species is threatened, mostly due to deforestation.
• Autumn crocus: Romans and Greeks used it as poison, but now one of the most effective treatments for gout. Under threat from horticulture trade.

Botanists have discovered a new species of giant selfdestructing palm in Madagascar with is so large that it can be seen in satellite photo's. although villagers had known about it for many years, none had seen it flower. When this finally happened last year, botanists found that the tree spent so much energy flowering that it died. The palm is 20 m. hight with leaves 5m. long, the tallest tree of its type, but for most of its life (around a 100 years) it is fairly unremarkable, apart from its size. It's flowering is spectecular: at first there's only a very long shoot like asparagus from the top of the tree and then, a few weeks later, this unique shoot starts to "explode". At the end of this process you can have something like a christmas tree. The branches then become covered with hundreds of tiny flowers, which turn into fruit. Eventually the palm collapses and dies.

In an art-galery in the north of The Netherlands the first ever Dutch plant disco has been organised. Everyone was asked to take his or her favourite plant to the party and to dance with it. There were lots of people who thought it was a joke, or who simply forgot to take their plant. For them lease-plants were available. there cacti for bad tempered people, rose bushes for those who are in love and succulents for people who weigh too much. The plant disco has been invented to promote a piece of art with the same name.

An active ingredient of the herb Oregano seems to be killing bacteria that can make you seriously ill. Research points in that direction. Microbiologists have discovered that one of the main substances of the plant effectively kills the salmonlella-bacteria. And the ones it doesn't kill, seem to be rendered immobile which makes it hard for them to reproduce or settle in our body. In the future this substance might be used as a preservative. In the Netherlands 30,000 people are infected with Salmonella each year (out of 16.5 million).

Dissecting laboratory animals has become controversial over the years. That's why Japanese researchers have "made" transparent frogs. Now they can inspect their organs and veins without hurting them. Transparent frogs also offer a good opportunity to research how cancer comes to be and how it develops. The frogs are able to reproduce. However, their grandchildren die shortly after they're born.

Dutch garden lovers have gone completely besirk in the first half of 2007. Never did they spend so much money on their garden: almost 1.5 billion Euro, an increase by 15% in comparison to the first six months of the previous year. Sales of garden furniture grew sensationally. But also garden equipment, barbecues and pavement sold extremely well. The sale of plants went down! People often chose expensive materials. Also striking: the sale of garden kitchens. Including a furnace, two meter barbecue plus water tap and baking tray. If only these optimists had known what kind of summer they would get......

Tree trunks shrink during dry spells. As soon as the rains start again, the trunks will swell rapidly. Researchers connected to the Wageningen University have figured this out. They determined that in 22 woodland reservates in the Netherlands tree trunks shrunk in the warm and dry months of April. The project will last for many years. In the long term scientists will be able to see if a shift is taking place in the start and end of the growing season of trees, for instance under the influence of global worming. They also hope to find out if trees can adapt to the extreme climatological conditions that seem to happen so often off late.

A high-speed on-line rescue operation of Chinese catlovers has saved the life of about 800 cats destined for the frying pan. Elderly lady Duo Zirong started the operation by forcing a truck loaded with living cats to stop in a suburb of Shanghai. On the internet the news spread like wildfire and only a couple of hours later enough money had been collected to buy the whole catload. In Southern Chine there are two kinds of catlovers......

Did you know that the lettuce you buy in the supermarket has been washed in water that contains three times more chlorid than a public swimming pool?

The oldest cotton clothes known have been found in India and are 5,000 years old. They are of such quality that we can safely assume that the art of cotton weaving is much older than that. In Peru indications of cotton cloth have been found that are 6,500 years old. In Europe cotton started its invasion much later. First in the Mediteranean and then, in the 16th century, northern Europe. In those days Europeans didn't know anything about the origin of cotton. They only had a vague idea that it stemmed from a plant. This lead to several stories concerning cotton's origin. One of the funniest being that it was the result of a hybridisation of a tree and a sheep. Pictures of such a plant could even be found in scientific literature......

If the assumptions of the University of Montana prove to be correct, honeybees will have to get ready for a far more dangerous mission than collecting nectar. If bees are fed with a syrup that contains a little of the explosive DNT, they can be trained to search for landmines (that contain this substance). The research hasn't yet been concluded......

The lawn mower is just als old as the kingdom of Belgium! In contrast to the wheelbarrow, which the Chinese already used as a military vehicle two thousand years ago, the lawn mower is quite a recent invention. Until 1830 lawns and meadows were cut with a scythe. In the same year that Belgium arose as an independent nation, an Englishman invented a grass cutter that could be pushed. The design has seen some minor adaptations but the non-electrical mowing machines you can buy now hardly differ from the 19th century model. In 1870 the first mower driven by a steam engine was put on the market. Followed by a fuel engine in 1902 and a couple of years later the types on which one could ride. The electrical one was introduced a couple of years after the end of the Second World War and the air cushioned one in 1964. In the Netherlands you don't need a driver's licence to ride a lawn mower. However, it can cause you to loose it! This happened to an unfortunate man whose garden stretched at both sides of a public road. He crossed it while under the influence of alcohol, had to pass a test and -as a result- had to hand in his licence for a whole month......