plant science

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Pedestrian Seeds Get the Right of Way

Most plants in the world spread their seeds by the wind and by bee pollination. But there are also quite a few seeds that are pedestrians. Seeds that stay on the ground and have to fend for themselves completely and start wandering to find a suitable place to germinate, and of course manage to do all this without being eaten - and they do it in a fascinating variety of ways.

How do they migrate? Does a seed have legs? How far does sperm travel? We talked about all these things, and more, with Prof. Rebecca Elbaum, the guest in this episode of HUJICAST.

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Sesame: From Ancient Seed to Modern Crop

Sesame seeds are healthy and tasty, but it’s a very labor-intensive crop, as pods must be picked by hand. As a result, sesame production has left Israel, moving entirely overseas. Now, Idan Sabag is working to bring it back. Together with Prof. Zvi Peleg, he is bringing sesame into modern agriculture, making it better suited for mechanized harvest. Idan Sabag is a doctoral student in the Department of Plant Sciences & Genetics in Agriculture