Plants have evolved a remarkable array of strategies to defend themselves against herbivores, and one such strategy involves attracting insects that act as natural enemies to these plant-eating pests. The fascinating interplay between plants, insects, and the chemical signals they utilize continues to captivate researchers in the field.

In the case of the beet armyworm caterpillar, scientists have discovered that its saliva contains a chemical called volicitin, which plays a crucial role in eliciting a defensive response from the plant. When the caterpillar feeds on corn seedlings, the volicitin triggers the release of chemical signals from the leaves, effectively attracting parasitic wasps. These wasps, in turn, prey on the caterpillars, pr ...

For the first time, scientists have discovered a link between heavy marijuana use and reduced dopamine production. Just so you know, dopamine is the hormone/neurotransmitter that is released during any kind of satisfaction - it's the same hormone that is released in your brain when you eat chocolate. In a recent study, lower dopamine release was found in the striatum - a region of the brain that is involved in working memory, impulsive behavior, and attention, in addition to subregions involved in associative and sensorimotor learning, and in the globus pallidus. Previous studies have shown that addiction to other drugs of abuse, such as cocaine and heroin, have similar effects on dopamine release, but such evidence for cannabis was mis ...