Coastal gardeners may have a new ally in the salty soup of the ocean, according to Italian researchers. While investigating creative solutions to potential water shortages, scientists from the University of Pisa
ran an experiment to see if different varieties of cherry tomatoes could be grown with seawater. They grew plants watered with normal irrigation water alongside plants which received a dilution of 10-12 percent seawater. Seawater generally has a salinity of 3.5 percent, so the dilution would be at most a half of one percent salt.

Geneticist Amita Sehgal of the University of Pennsylvania was recently studying fruit flies in her lab when she noticed something peculiar. The insects slept normally when bathed in light for 24 hours a day but tossed and turned when shifted from one day/night cycle, or “time zone,” to another. It turns out they were suffering from something akin to serious jet lag.