Rachel Mitchell's posts

No, it's not marijuana. It's a close cousin, known as Humulus lupulus, better known as "hops." You know it as a key…

Beneath our feet, plants are locked in a slow-motion struggle for the elements necessary for survival: water,…

Most people don't have very strong feelings about flowers, unless they are incredibly beautiful or smell really…

Our planet has some pretty intense environments, ranging from dense ice to molten rock — and they all play host to…

Life has been evolving on Earth for approximately 3.5 billion years. And in that time, to quote Jurassic Park's…

Generally speaking, plants get filed under the "boring" category. Occasionally, they smell nice, look pretty, or…

Artificial selection, also known as selective breeding, is a nice way of saying that humans have guided the…

Scientists have demonstrated that genetically modified organisms have no measurable negative impacts on human…

Genetically modified plants and animals are often feared as "Frankenfoods," but is there really anything dangerously…

In 1967, biologists Robert MacArthur and E.O. Wilson developed a new ecological theory: Island Biogeography. It…