Scientists uncover hidden secret in plant : A simple riverside plant that most people would never look at twice is now leaving scientists deeply puzzled. Researchers studying smooth horsetail, a hollow-stemmed plant from one of Earth's oldest plant lineages, discovered that the water inside its stems contains the most extreme oxygen isotope values ever measured in terrestrial material, as per a report.
The finding does not mean the plant is producing anything alien. Instead, researchers found that the stem acts much like a natural distillation tower, changing the chemistry of water as it travels from the bottom of the plant to the tip, as per an Eco News report. The discovery could reshape how scientists interpret clues preserved in desert plants, fossils, and ancient climate records.
