sLowlife
From: Chemical Heritage Foundation
Series: Distillations - The Chemistry Podcast
Length: 11:54
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- sLowlife
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- Chemical Heritage Foundation
Plants are not the silent, stationary creatures we imagine them to be. They drift, stretch, and dance in search of nutrients, water, and sunlight. Inspired by sLowlife, a dynamic multimedia exhibit now on display in the Clifford C. Hach Gallery at the Chemical Heritage Foundation, today’s show looks at the chemistry behind plant growth and movement. We’ll also talk with Amy Stewart, bestselling author of Flower Confidential: The Good, The Bad, and the Beautiful. Her new book, Wicked Plants: A Book of Botanical Atrocities, will be published May 5. Chemical Agent: Photosynthesis.
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Related Pieces
Piece Description
Plants are not the silent, stationary creatures we imagine them to be. They drift, stretch, and dance in search of nutrients, water, and sunlight. Inspired by sLowlife, a dynamic multimedia exhibit now on display in the Clifford C. Hach Gallery at the Chemical Heritage Foundation, today’s show looks at the chemistry behind plant growth and movement. We’ll also talk with Amy Stewart, bestselling author of Flower Confidential: The Good, The Bad, and the Beautiful. Her new book, Wicked Plants: A Book of Botanical Atrocities, will be published May 5. Chemical Agent: Photosynthesis.
Broadcast History
Distributed as a podcast 13 March 2009.
Transcript
DISTILLATIONS EPISODE 64: SlowLife
0:00 UP THEME MUSIC
Hello, and welcome to Distillations – extracts from the past, present and future of chemistry. I’m Meir Rinde. On today’s show, we’ll examine the beautiful and mysterious life of flora. We’ll learn how plants move to seek out their basic needs. And we’ll speak with a northern California plant expert about the science behind the flower business.
That’s all coming up on today’s episode of Distillations.
MONOLOGUE
A new exhibit on the secret life of plants has just opened at the Chemical Heritage Foundation’s museum. Slowlife uses photography, video installations, and living plants to explore the subtle ways that plants move, grow, and interact with the world around them. It’s not just what’s happening externally that makes plants so interesting. At the molecular level, plants convert water, carbon dioxide, and the sun’s...
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
00:00 Opening Credits
00:31 Introduction
1:00 Chemical Agent: Photosynthesis
3:02 A conversation with Amy Stewart
8:19 Mystery Solved! Tropisms
11:10 Closing Credits
Additional Credits
Distillations is a presentation of the Chemical Heritage Foundation.
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