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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Fragrant Violation"
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MORE POWER; LESS FLOWER... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. A ROSE BY ANY OTHER INDUSTRIAL SITE MAY NOT SMELL AS SWEET. PARDON THE PARAPHRASE, BUT NEW RESEARCH INDICATES THAT FLOWERS IN CERTAIN POLLUTED AREAS MAY BE LOSING SOME OF THEIR "BLOOMING" SCENT. BASED ON A NEW MATHEMATICAL MODEL CONSTRUCTED BY UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA RESEARCHERS, IN AREAS OF HEAVY INDUSTRIAL OR VEHICLE POLLUTION, CHEMICAL REACTIONS IN THE AIR COULD BE CAUSING THIS "FRAGRANT" VIOLATION. FLOWERS PRODUCE SCENT MOLECULES: IN A CLEAN, LESS-POLLUTED ENVIRONMENT--SAY, LIKE WE HAD 200 YEARS AGO--THOSE MOLECULES COULD TRAVEL UP TO ABOUT THREE-QUARTERS OF A MILE; IN TODAY'S HEAVILY INDUSTRIALIZED AREAS, THEIR SCENT CAN BE DETECTED ONLY UP TO A QUARTER OF THE DISTANCE. YOU SEE, WHEN THE MOLECULES LEAVE THE FLOWER AND BECOME AIRBORNE, THEY'RE VERY VOLATILE--AND QUICKLY BOND WITH POLLUTANT PARTICLES; THE SCENT BECOMES CHEMICALLY ALTERED. THE RESULT: THE FLOWER SMELL IS NO LONGER FLOWERY. BEES, BUTTERFLIES, AND BIRDS ALL USE SCENT-TRAILS TO SEEK OUT FLOWERS AND POLLINATE THEM; IF THEY CAN’T FIND AS MANY, THAT MEANS LESS POLLINATION--WHICH LEADS TO FEWER FLOWERS, FEWER BEES, AND FEWER BUTTERFLIES. SO, IF OUR LILACS ARE LACKING, OUR DAISIES ARE HAZY, AND THERE'S A LITTLE TOO MUCH "CAR" IN OUR CARNATIONS, THE REASON MAY BE RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR NOSES. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
