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The European infrastructures EMPHASIS and AnaEE aim to collaborate in bringing innovative solutions for a sustainable intensification of agriculture. By integrating the study of plant phenomics and agricultural ecology they hope to foster the development of novel scientific concepts, sensors and integrated models.
The recent International Botanical Congress in Shenzhen was the largest meeting in its history. That a gathering rooted in the superficially traditional science of taxonomy is thriving in the age of genomics and biotechnology shows the strength and adaptability of modern botany and botanists.
Fire has always been one of the more dramatic routes by which humanity and the plant kingdom interact. Forest management practices, urban planning and global warming are conspiring to make the relationship ever more destructive.
Science is a competitive business and in any competition there can be ‘shortcuts’ to success. Transparency is the only way to guarantee that research results can be trusted more than some sporting achievements.
In the March for Science, held on 22 April in cities around the world, many placards bore Galileo's assertion that scientific truth is unaffected by political circumstance, “Eppur si muove”. But scientific research is inevitably shaped by the political climate in which it takes place.
Plant research produces data in a profusion of types and scales, and in ever-increasing volume. What are the challenges and opportunities presented by data management in contemporary plant science? And how can researchers make efficient and fruitful use of data management tools and strategies?