Recent comments in /f/askscience

Western_Hostility t1_j1uttk6 wrote

Reply to AskScience AMA Series: I'm Here to Talk About Roots and Shoots: How Plants Prosper in the Desert and What it Means for Agriculture and Biodiversity, AMA! by AskScienceModerator

In the Chihuahuan Desert, there is a shift from grasslands to more woody plant species. Do you think it's possible to go back to the grasslands or at least some hybrid state that provides some production for wildlife or commercial grazing?

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Ironhyde36 t1_j1us723 wrote

Reply to AskScience AMA Series: I'm Here to Talk About Roots and Shoots: How Plants Prosper in the Desert and What it Means for Agriculture and Biodiversity, AMA! by AskScienceModerator

Was wondering if you got to check out the cacti that grow up here in the mountains an hills in Montana. We have a cacti that grows across the ground up here. It survives the harsh winters up here and I was curious why it lives but other cacti die. They freeze then when they thaw out they turn to mush but the Montana cacti that grows higher and colder on the mountains live?

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delliejonut t1_j1urz5h wrote

Reply to AskScience AMA Series: I'm Here to Talk About Roots and Shoots: How Plants Prosper in the Desert and What it Means for Agriculture and Biodiversity, AMA! by AskScienceModerator

Hi! Going to check out your link in a moment but first, a question off the top of my head.

There's a wide array of dry climates on earth. The American Southwest, Death Valley, the Sahara, Gobi desert, Patagonia, Karakum ect. Is there overlap between the plant mechanisms you study in these different environments, or do plants in hot/cold environments and different locations adapt in unique ways?

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athomasflynn t1_j1ur002 wrote

Reply to comment by mjbat7 in In Sci-Fi the concept of eye-transplants is common enough - what would it take to actually be able to do it? by Daniel_Jacksson

I understand what you're saying but I was talking about something close to or better than human vision. I'd argue that bionic eyes are further along because they're sending a simplified signal. As they ramp up they're going to run into the mapping issues. There's a ton of different procedures and repairs to incentivize improvements in neuron grafting, organ rejection and neurogenesis where the bionic eye challenges seems like it will pull in less R&D money. I might be wrong though, brain implants are getting popular in the startup funding cycle so that might drive crossover breakthroughs.

I'm personally rooting for bionic eyes. I'd like to be able to see like a mantis shrimp in my 70s.

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TeeTaylor t1_j1up9i7 wrote

Reply to AskScience AMA Series: I'm Here to Talk About Roots and Shoots: How Plants Prosper in the Desert and What it Means for Agriculture and Biodiversity, AMA! by AskScienceModerator

Do plants absorb different minerals depending on what kind of soil they are in? If so, do they have a way of regulating how much of a particular mineral they absorb? I'd imagine desert soil is higher in certain minerals than, say, volcanic soil or mountain soil.

I know commercial fertilizers use the the NPK ratio, but how do desert plants regulate that ratio internally?

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coolnessallday t1_j1unze7 wrote

Reply to AskScience AMA Series: I'm Here to Talk About Roots and Shoots: How Plants Prosper in the Desert and What it Means for Agriculture and Biodiversity, AMA! by AskScienceModerator

Wow...I'm impressed. There are a host of reasons for your work and we all applaud you. I've been involved in food security for some time as well and have been lecturing on an informal basis in all my travels, the need for better understanding and applications in phenology. Mother nature is not altruistic, but gives off life allowing sustainability for those who adapt. Shalom to you.

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iSoinic t1_j1ul7o6 wrote

Reply to AskScience AMA Series: I'm Here to Talk About Roots and Shoots: How Plants Prosper in the Desert and What it Means for Agriculture and Biodiversity, AMA! by AskScienceModerator

More efficient watering systems are needed in deserts/ arid regions. Many regions in the world are facing a net loss of water amount, becoming more arid and are about to face vegetation zone shifts.

Which general adaptations can you recommend to farmers all over the world, who will be challenged by this? Are there ways to "reform" their way of working, e.g. saving their traditional knowledge and keep going with some adaptations (e.g. more heat resistant crops, different watering techniques), or will there be more severe transformations needed (completely new crops, far less irrigated area, changes of intensity and soil usage)?

How well is this accepted in the agricultural bubbles you have encountered as a scientist? Are those people likely to make those necessary adaptations, or will they wait for too long, ultimately giving other market participants, who are focussing on sustainability in the first place, a better market potential?

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ozspook t1_j1ukd9m wrote

Reply to comment by mckulty in In Sci-Fi the concept of eye-transplants is common enough - what would it take to actually be able to do it? by Daniel_Jacksson

This kind of thing is enabled by the kind of 'robotic brain surgeon' microelectrode implantor that Neuralink is building.

So despite the mouthbreathers ranting about Elon implanting microchips in your head there is a lot of progress being made that will help a lot of people.

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SalmonHustlerTerry t1_j1uk20b wrote

Reply to AskScience AMA Series: I'm Here to Talk About Roots and Shoots: How Plants Prosper in the Desert and What it Means for Agriculture and Biodiversity, AMA! by AskScienceModerator

Do you have to introduce new soil when first planting in desert areas, or is the sand sufficient enough for roots to take hold?

Also do you have to constantly feed the plants nutrients? Or is there enough in ground?

And how long would it take, or how much desert would have to be reclaimed for a decent mycelium network to be established for the plants to pass nutrients around for themselves?

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mckulty t1_j1ucr3r wrote

Reply to In Sci-Fi the concept of eye-transplants is common enough - what would it take to actually be able to do it? by Daniel_Jacksson

The optic nerve doesn't carry individual pixel information. There are 100 million rods and cones, and only 1 million axons traveling up the optic nerve.

These axons make up the optic nerve behind the eye. The problems with cutting this nerve and connecting another look insurmountable.

  1. the optic nerve axons are long extensions of ganglion cells, but the cell bodies are in the retina. You can't cut these axons and expect them to grow back because the part you cut off will die and the ganglion cells could not figure out the precise path from point A in the retina to point A-prime in the base of the brain. CNS tissue doesn't regenerate very well.

  2. the transmitted image isn't a pixel map, but more a collection of motion and orientation vectors your brain assembles and learns to associate with, then recognize as, your mother's face. Learning at this level is a skill we lose in the first few years of childhood. Adult amblyopia is very hard to treat.

Given that we're cracking the code, given that there IS a pixel-type pattern of locations we can map in the visual cortex, it's more practical to project vision onto a mesh network of microelectrodes that make direct contact at the surface of the brain. Cybervision will happen before we can transplant/reconnect central nervous system tissue.

The skill necessary to "re-grow" vision will also enable monsters among us to create their own monsters.

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Randombleizinthewild t1_j1uchwl wrote

Reply to AskScience AMA Series: I'm Here to Talk About Roots and Shoots: How Plants Prosper in the Desert and What it Means for Agriculture and Biodiversity, AMA! by AskScienceModerator

Hi !

  1. How are Plants used to prevent the desert to increase?

  2. For example, in the case of the gobi desert, only native plants are used or do you sometimes add other plants?

  3. If we add a lot of plants in a place in the desert, is it possible to alter the climate? And bring more rain in a place?

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