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Plants Respond to Touch Sending Different Signals Through Their Cells, Shows New Study

Despite the veins in a leaf appearing like a nervous system, our woody neighbors do not have a nervous system—but that doesn’t mean they can’t feel your touch upon their many hands.

Quite the contrary, scientists have established using sophisticated microscopy that plants register the beginning and end of every touch by sending slow waves of calcium signals to their cells.

Conducted at Washington State Univ., the scientists used 84 experiments from twelve members of tobacco and thale cress species that had been specially bred with calcium sensors.

Previous research has shown that when a pest like a caterpillar bites a plant leaf, it can initiate the plant’s defensive responses such as the release of chemicals that make leaves less tasty or even toxic to the pest. An earlier study also revealed that brushing a plant triggers calcium waves that activate different genes.

Using a glass rod the width of a human hair, they gently probed the leaves’ individual cells under a microscope to see what the response was.

Michael Knoblauch.
Knoblauch

“It is quite surprising how finely sensitive plants cells are—that they can discriminate when something is touching them. They sense the pressure, and when it is released, they sense the drop in pressure,” said Michael Knoblauch, WSU biological sciences professor and senior author of the study in the journal Nature Plants.

“It’s surprising that plants can do this in a very different way than animals, without nerve cells and at a really fine level.”

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WSU hosts Data Literacy Playshops program

Seven-year-old George wants to design computer games. Five-year-old Erik hopes to become a policeman. Fourteen-year-old Jaime finds archaeology and history fascinating.

These youngsters and dozens of their peers recently took an important step toward achieving their dreams by participating in the Data Literacy Playshops program hosted by Washington State University data scholars. The youth and family-oriented playshop events introduce K–8 students to ways of recognizing, synthesizing, and utilizing data as a “fourth dimension of literacy.”

Nairanjan 'Jan' Dasgupta.
Dasgupta

“As data culture becomes the norm, data literacy needs to be part of basic education from an early age,” said Nairanjana “Jan” Dasgupta, WSU Boeing distinguished professor of science/math education who conceived and created the data playshops. “Increasing children’s level of comfort and understanding about using data helps them recognize the many ways they can and already do make data-based decisions in their daily lives.”

Engaging youth and their families in age-appropriate, data-immersive activities can start conversations, create awareness, and pique positive interest in data — before they might be affected by negative attitudes toward math, Dasgupta said.

The lighthearted and fun hands-on activities focus on storytelling, visualization, and using the word “data” frequently. Participants and their families learn ways to collect and evaluate data and how data can be both used and misused.

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WSU Insider

Attorney: Good defeats evil

The case that bankrupted the Aryan Nations nearly 25 years ago wasn’t just about racism. It wasn’t just about taking down a white supremacist group.

It was a battle of good versus evil, and good won.

“This was a major turning point in culture,” Norm Gissel told about 60 people during a Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations luncheon at the Best Western Plus Coeur d’Alene Inn on Thursday.

It was in 1998 when an Idaho First Judicial District jury awarded $6.3 million to Victoria Keenan and her son, Jason Keenan, against the Aryan Nations and their security guards that bankrupted the neo-Nazi group.

Gissel was part of the legal team that achieved that victory.

Cornell Clayton.
Clayton

Cornell Clayton, a Rhodes Scholar and Washington State University political science professor, shared his views on extremism in a historical perspective. He said division in government has long been part of America.

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Coeur d’Alene/Post Falls Press

Kalispel Tribe partners with WSU researchers on 5,000-year-old archeological dig

The Kalispel Tribe is collaborating with Washington State University researchers on a 5,000-year-old archeological dig.

Ancient Tribal earth ovens are being excavated as part of the first archeological project ever made public by the Kalispel Tribe of Indians, said WSU researchers in a news release on Tuesday. The ovens were built long before the Egyptian pyramids.

The excavation will happen on June 5 near Newport with WSU archeologists. Attendees will see uncovered artifacts at the site and learn more about the history of the Kalispel Tribe’s indigenous food systems.

The artifacts are being carefully removed from the ground to make room for essential housing for the Tribe, according to researchers.

At the same time, explained archeologists, the excavation provides an opportunity for the Tribe to discover more of its history. Archeologists believe the site was an ancient tribal hunting camp on the banks of the Pend Oreille River and believe the project could reveal insights into the foods the Kalispel people have been preparing and eating in the Northwest for the last 5,000 years.

Shannon Tushingham.
Tushingham

Shannon Tushingham, a WSU professor of archeology who has worked with the Tribe for many years, is leading an archeological field school where students will get first-hand experience practicing techniques.

“It is really about teaching students the archeological skills they will need to get jobs in the growing field of cultural resource management,” Tushingham said. “We are training the next generation of professional archeologists how to work with tribal communities and interact with them in a meaningful and professional way. We are honored to be hosted by the Kalispel Tribe.”

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Yahoo! News

Inslee Gets Tour of WSU Medicine Residency Program, Bear Center During Trip to Palouse

During a recent visit to the Palouse, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee took a tour of the WSU Bear Research, Education and Conservation Center as well as the new Family Medicine Residency program at Pullman Regional Hospital.

Inslee, along with his granddaughter Zoe, met with scientists and other staff at the WSU Bear Center to discuss ongoing research, in particular the impacts of climate change on the bears and their ability to reliably find food.

Bear Center Director of Research Charles Robbins also shared with Inslee recent research on the ability of hibernating bears to reverse insulin resistance brought on by long periods of inactivity during hibernation, which has potential implications for our understanding of diabetes in humans.

“There is so much incredible research happening here at Washington State,” said Inslee.

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