In this study, the authors investigate whether microplastics affect terrestrial plant growth and soil quality.

In this study, the authors investigate whether the addition of microbes from native soil enhanced the seed germination and growth of mung beans, pumpkins, and pea flower plants.

Virtual labs have been gaining popularity over the last few years, especially during the worldwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, the suitability of virtual labs for school chemistry experiments is addressed and their effectiveness is compared to traditional physical lab experiments by focusing on physical and human resources, convenience, cost, safety, and time involved as well as topic "matter".

In this article, the authors investigate the shear modulus of different types of paper in the setting of the crumpling effect.

Here, recognizing a declining supply of rock phosphate, as well as its role in crop fertilization, the authors investigated a fungus that forms a symbiotic relationship with many crops. They found that symbiosis between the fungus and common bean plant increased the affinity of the plant towards absorbing nutrients as evidenced by lower root-to-shoot ratios in beans planted in soil with various concentrations of phosphorous and salinity.

This study assesses the capacity for milkweed species, an important host plant for Monarch butterflies, to grow in desert environments with different water levels.

Farmers will need to increase crop yields to feed the world's growing population efficiently. The authors here investigate the effects of growing corn in the presence or absence of ragweed, an invasive weed found in many fields and gardens. Surprisingly, the authors found that corn grown in the presence of weeds grew taller and were more productive than corn that had weeds removed. This may help gardeners rethink the necessity of weeding, and may point a way to improve farm yields in the future.

In this study, the ability of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to limit the growth of an agricultural weed Cirsium arvense is tested. This has important implications for developing natural herbicides.

Climate change has contributed to the increasing annual temperatures around the world and poses a grave threat to Maize crops. Two methods proven to help combat plant drought stress effects are presoaking seeds (seeds are soaked in a liquid before planting) and the application of Acetic Acid (vinegar) to soil. The purpose of this experiment was to explore if combining these two methods by presoaking seeds with a vinegar solution can improve the seed development and plant drought tolerance of Maize plants during drought conditions.

In this study, the authors conduct a survey to evaluate the impact of household socioeconomic status on effectiveness of distance learning for students.