Tulip trees could help us fight global warming because of the kind of wood they are made of, scientists believe.
A chance finding at a botanic garden revealed the special type of wood that appears especially good at storing carbon.
Trees are natural carbon sinks that remove CO2 from the atmosphere, where it contributes to global warming.
But it is believed ancient tulip trees, also known as liriodendron, may have evolved millions of years ago to store larger amounts of carbon.
“It was bang in the middle of when the planet was undergoing a big change in atmospheric CO2 levels,” said Raymond Wightman, who runs advanced microscopes at Cambridge University's Sainsbury Laboratory.
“The planet went from very high CO2 levels to then relatively low CO2 levels. The plants might have adapted,” Dr Wightman, a co-author of the new research, told The National.
“We’re just starting to wonder, is it something about this new wood structure that allows it to lock in more carbon?”
The species are found in North America and Asia and grow quickly, which could make them suitable for newly planted forests.
They are already used in plantations in parts of East Asia to “lock in” carbon, said a second co-author, Jan Lyczakowski.
Their rapid growth, as well as their hunger for carbon, may both be linked to the special kind of wood, an “intermediate” type between hardwood and softwood.
It was discovered by British and Polish researchers who took samples from Cambridge University's botanic garden, where the Sainsbury Laboratory is housed.
“We just decided, summer before last, just because we could, to survey as many trees and shrubs in the botanic garden as possible,” Dr Wightman said.
Preserved in liquid nitrogen at -210°C and magnified by 50,000 times under a microscope, the tulip tree samples came as a surprise to scientists.
The two surviving types of tulip tree both have much larger fibres, known as macrofibrils, than their hardwood relatives.
“Both of them had a structure that we’ve not seen before, and we’ve looked at a lot of wood structures in our microscope,” said Dr Wightman.
Using trees as a carbon sink is a common green initiative, especially as they can bring other benefits such as shade and wildlife habitats.
Research has found that planting as many as a trillion new trees on Earth could put a huge dent in the planet's carbon problem.
There are also man-made techniques, known as carbon capture and storage, that claw back CO2 waste before it hits the atmosphere.
However, an over-reliance on these methods can be seen by environmentalists as greenwashing that avoids cutting CO2 emissions in the first place.
The article Convergent and adaptive evolution drove change of secondary cell wall ultrastructure in extant lineages of seed plants, by Jan Lyczakowski and Raymond Wightman, is published in the journal New Phytologist.
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Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
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Final: June 1, Madrid
Suggested picnic spots
Abu Dhabi
Umm Al Emarat Park
Yas Gateway Park
Delma Park
Al Bateen beach
Saadiyaat beach
The Corniche
Zayed Sports City
Dubai
Kite Beach
Zabeel Park
Al Nahda Pond Park
Mushrif Park
Safa Park
Al Mamzar Beach Park
Al Qudrah Lakes
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- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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