Tulips Turn the Netherlands’ Countryside into Art

Millions of tulips have turned the outskirts of Lisse, the Netherlands into a modern masterpiece. Between mid-March and mid-May, nearly 800 varieties of the flower bloom, turning the usually monochromatic Dutch countryside into something of a natural wonder, as thick strokes of bright, almost artificial-looking color create a beautifully striped landscape. The flowers are part of the country’s massive flower farms, which, in 2014, produced …

“Light Recipes” are Creating Tastier Crops

Though they’re efficient at accelerating the growth of plants, fertilizers can produce unhealthy side effects. To avoid this, the GrowWise center—a Netherlands-based research lab—considers the other crucial aspect of photosynthesis: light. By playing with a mix of red and blue lights, the Philips-owned LED laboratory has found ways to drastically improve the quality of crops without having to add any artificial nutrients. “Light recipes” can …

NASA Discovers Earth 2.0

A newly discovered planet—called Kepler-452b—is so similar to Earth that NASA has dubbed it Earth 2.0. The far-off planet rests roughly 1,400 light years away in the constellation Cygnus and orbits inside its star’s habitable zone, where it’s warm enough for liquid surface water. Kepler-452b’s similarities to Earth are uncanny; it revolves around its sun once every 385 days, is roughly the same size and …