The lotus has been a major symbol in Buddhism for centuries. The lotus thrives in the mud and produces some of the most beautiful flowers in the world. Now scientists are discovering the science of the sacred lotus. They named them the “lotus effect” after them because of their ability to be water resistant and repel dirt.
Andrea Miller reports on the Lion’s Roar that Australian scientists at the University of Adelaide sequenced the genome of the lotus and found that they generate heat like a warm-blooded animal. She writes
Apparently, the evolutionary advantage of a warm flower is that it attracts pollinating insects. The lotus has a biochemical pathway that it uses for generating heat and it has the ability to switch this pathway on or off, depending on whether more or less heat would be advantageous. [Read More…]
