Leaf trivia (and non-trivia)

1. Bloomberg CityLab November 3, 2016: The Devil's Hair Dryer: Hell is other people, with leaf blowers.
2. October 4, 2022: Wildfires are getting worse. Can scientists save California's forests from going up in smoke?
   Comment: My technology can both prevent and help control wildfires. After developing it and seeing how effective it was in quickly removing leaves from lawns, even thick layers of old leaves, I took it into a virgin forest and found that in one pass it removed virtually all leaves and small branches, exposing bare ground with not enough combustible debris remaining to support fire.
3. Why Do Autumn Leaves Turn Red? Soil May Dictate Fall Colors
4. Why More Autumn Leaves Are Red In America And Yellow In Europe: New Theory
5. Leaves whisper their properties through ultrasound
6. Scientists Confirm Folk Remedy Repels Mosquitoes
   Comment: United States Department of Agriculture-Agriculture Research Service scientists isolated compounds in the American beautyberry plant, Callicarpa americana, that may repel insects.
7. Six compounds found in cranberry leaves may naturally reduce insect feeding, growth
8. A new innovative way to fertilize through leaves
9. Molecule found in tree leaves helps female mice combat weight gain; males unaffected
10. Hop leaves -- discarded in beer brewing -- have substances that could fight dental diseases
11. High-tech electronics made from autumn leaves based on Supercapacitive performance of porous carbon materials derived from tree leaves
12. Clemson researchers: Trees grow more efficient leaves to compensate for hurricane damage
13. Leaves are nature's most sophisticated environment sensors: New research confirms that leaves are nature's most sophisticated environment sensors
14. Can trees control algal blooms?
    Excerpt: “[initially quoting Professor Michele Burford] ‘Trees … drop their leaves, they fall in the water or they fall on the ground, so we get leaf litter everywhere.’ … Among the novel techniques the team employed was to add leachate from leaves to experimental chambers in a reservoir and observe the effect the leachate had on the growth of algae. The experiment revealed that if enough leachate was added it can suppress the blue-green algal growth.”
15. To prevent tick encounters, where you dump your leaves matters: Raking leaves out to the yard edge may increase tick numbers there
16. Engineers work out why fallen leaves on train tracks are so slippery
17. Which factors trigger leaf die-off in autumn?
18. Leaf microbiomes are a neighborhood affair in northern forests
19. How the size and shape of dried leaves can turn small flames into colossal bushfires
20. Climate warming linked to tree leaf unfolding and flowering growing apart
21. November 20, 2021: America's Love-Hate Relationship With Fall Leaves: Pretty, but Who's Going to Pick Them Up? Residents of Mt. Lebanon, Pa., pile up nearly 500,000 cubic feet of leaves, enough to fill more than 200 40-foot shipping containers; ‘That's a lot’
22. November 24, 2021: Fall foliage was disrupted by climate change. It might be the new normal.: Throughout the eastern U.S., fall colors arrived behind schedule, which scientists say is a sign of things to come.
23. August 25, 2022: Blue light is the key factor affecting leaf litter photodegradation
    Based on: The crucial role of blue light as a driver of litter photodegradation in terrestrial ecosystems
24. April 17, 2023: States and towns consider banning gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers
25. May 25, 2023: And now the weather: Cloudy with scattered showers of plastic
    Excerpt: “Animal tests have linked chemicals in microplastics to increased risks of cancer, reproductive problems and DNA mutations … The density of "plastic fall" can increase by an order of magnitude during heavy rain. … Microplastics that hit the ground can still be ingested or inhaled when stirred up, for example, on a windy day.”
    Comment: Or a leaf blower.
26. July 7, 2023 Study looks at summer solstice effect on leaf senescence
27. October 25, 2023: Hear that? It's the sound of leaf blower bans.: As restrictions spread, neighborhoods are getting quieter — and cleaner.
28. October 26, 2023: Why leaf blowers are being banned across the country: Operating a gas-powered leaf blower for an hour emits as much smog-forming pollution as driving a Toyota Camry from L.A. to Denver.
29. November 3, 2023: Leaf blowers are a scourge. Why is it hard to get rid of them? We hate how leaf blowers sound. We love how they make our lawns look.
30. February 29, 2024: Man guns down landscaper for blowing leaves toward his truck, Texas police say