• Three Sisters always come to Thanksgiving
Although I have only two female siblings, three sisters are coming to Thanksgiving dinner. That's "The Three Sisters," and they've turned up at Thanksgiving dinners since colonial times. But my, how the Sisters have changed!

• Ethylene gas stimulates fruit to ripen
Plants have hormones, too. And like human hormones, just a tad can have dramatic effect. Usually, hormones - whether in plants or humans - are complex molecules. An exception is ethylene, a plant hormone that's a gas made up of nothing more than two atoms of carbon and four atoms of hydrogen.

• Artificial lighting gives boost to plants
Dear Abby ... whoops, I mean Lee: