WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A Purdue University team of scientists upended a long-held assumption about how plant volatile compounds, the chemicals that are responsible for scent, move to the outside of ...

When plants are in distress or being fed on by insects, they have been known to send out sensory volatile cues that alert organisms in the area — such as birds — that they are in need of help. While ...

Volatiles can also be used to make perfumes, food additives, preservatives, chemotherapeutics and anesthetics. Volatiles must cross various barriers, an aqueous cell wall and the waxy cuticle or "skin ...

The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI. Aphids are a major crop pest, but chemical pesticides lead to the emergence of resistant organisms, and biological control can be ...

(This article forms a part of the Science for All newsletter that takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Subscribe now!) Volatiles are elements or compounds that change from solid or ...