Carnivorous plants haven’t have the best media representation. The 1986 cult classic Little Shop of Horrors depicted these hungry little darlings as bloodthirsty beasts, which isn’t entirely inaccurate—depending on where they’re located, carnivorous plants eat everything from flies to frogs.
There's a long and storied tradition of scientists getting fantastic ideas from nature, as there are few finer testing labs than the requirements of natural selection. The newest breakthrough in materials science based on a plant is Slippery Liquid-Infused Porous Surfaces — or SLIPS. And it could one day give us…
It's no Triffid, but a new species of giant pitcher plant discovered in the highlands of the Philippines has a hunger for mammalian flesh. Fortunately, they're mostly interested in insects and rodents — at least for now.
