It’s starting off to be an interesting year. For starters, scientists have shown that Venus flytraps can count. Aloft, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly ignored ground-based advice to save two out of four zinnias from mould, thus becoming an ‘autonomous gardener’ in the space agency’s very best bureaucratic bafflegab. Back on Earth, coconut trees are no longer considered trees in the tropical Indian state of Goa, where authorities have reclassified them as palms so they can be cut down.