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Plant owners know just how difficult it can be to figure out what they need, especially when leaves start browning or wilting. But it turns out that plants may have been telling you all along. A new study found that when plants are stressed, they emit specific sounds that identify what's wrong. Previous studies had shown that plants vibrate when under stress, but for years, scientists have debated whether those vibrations become sound waves. By studying tomato and tobacco plants in an acoustic chamber inside a greenhouse, researchers at Tel Aviv University discovered that it's true – plants cry out...

Rings writer reveals Two Towers secretsNick Smith "Even the smallest person can change the course of the future." Readers could be forgiven for mistaking the above words as J R R Tolkien's, direct from the pen of The Lord of the Rings' author. The wrong attribution has happened often enough, several times by reporters who should know better. In fact, the words were penned by scriptwriters Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson for their film adaptation of Tolkien's masterpiece. Ms Boyens said the line is one of many that people assume is lifted straight from the book, the...

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water  Why did the Ents end up in Fangorn Forest? How, and when, did they make the trek across Middle-earth to the southern end of the Misty Mountains? And why did they move all the way down there? Fangorn tells Merry and Pippin that he once wandered through the willow-meads of Tasarinan. "Willow-meads" is a curious turn of phrase. Trees don't grow in meadows. But Tolkien loved to scatter willows around Middle-earth, along with rivers and lakes. And willows do grow beside rivers and lakes.The willow has long been...

A toy company, "Applause Entertainment", has some pictures on its website of various action figures from the upcoming Lord of the Rings movie, "The Two Towers". One such photo may be of their figure for Treebeard, the old Ent who helps out Merry and Pippin. As such, it also might be VERY close to the way the old tree-herder will look in the movie. Corona's Coming Attractions at http://corona.bc.ca/films/main.html has the story, just go to the link and scroll down to the link "Treebikini"(?). The photo itself MUST be considered a SPOILER and should be viewed only after some thought,...