Plants are one of the main components of biomass on Earth. From antiquity, it was customary to attribute them to one of the lower forms of life. To a certain extent, this attitude is maintained now. But there is enough evidence that their abilities and reactions are similar to those that can be observed in animals - including humans. One example is the effect of anesthetics. A recent study confirmed that in plants, like animals, they affect a number of physiological processes.

The Yandex.Kassa payment system suspended payments through mobile terminals (MPOS) after the Central Bank announced the reorganization of Promsvyazbank. This was reported by RBC with reference to the warning of the system sent to customers. The press service of the Yandex.Money service, which owns Yandex.Kassa, confirmed the suspension of payments-they were all carried out by Promsvyazbank.

The independence of Finland was recognized by the Council of People's Commissars on December 18 (31), 1917. This was one of Lenin's most successful decisions, which largely determined the outcome of the Civil War. White, using the Finnish factor, could have changed their position on the board in one way, but they did not find their own Lenin. Having recognized the independence of Finland, Soviet Russia took a feasible part in the civil war that flared up there a month.

Social networks can harm the mental health of users if they spend time in them only passively consuming information, and not interacting with other people. The results of the relevant studies are published on the Facebook blog. Researchers Facebook conducted an experiment with the participation of students of the University of Michigan.

The celebration of Christmas in Nazareth will pass, as usual, and no events are planned to be canceled in protest against the US decision to transfer its embassy to Jerusalem. This was the mayor of Ali Salam by Reuters on December 16. According to Salam, only three singers will not take part in the planned events - for what reason, the mayor did not specify. Otherwise, as the head of the city emphasized, the holiday will be held according to the usual routine.

Former FSB officer Dmitry Dokuchaev, arrested in Russia in the case of treason, rejected the story of a hacker from Yekaterinburg Konstantin Kozlovsky, who said that he had attacked the servers of the US Democratic Party before the 2016 presidential election. Dokuchaev handed over to RBC through his lawyer. “I deny my acquaintance (communication) with Kozlovsky and, accordingly, any cooperation with him,” said Dokuchaev.

The Business Insider has compiled a list of the best cars since the 1940s, including the two most outstanding models from each decade. The list is published on December 16 on the BI website. According to the publication, the listing was worthy of cars that influenced the automobile industry that changed the market that became sales leaders. Additionally, this or that model is still produced.

American instructors create a “new Syrian army” in Syria, consisting of militants of the Islamic State and other terrorist groups. This was reported in the Russian Center for the reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria, Interfax reports. According to the Russian military, the preparation of new armed groups is conducted in the refugee camp located in the province of El Hasek. The created formations are intended to combat Syrian government forces in the south of the country.

Russia's investments in the US government bonds during October 2017 increased by $ 1.1 billion and reached $ 105 billion. This is evidenced by the data of the American Ministry of Finance. In annual terms, the volume of investments of the Russian Federation in the US public debt increased in October by 41.8%. In 2016, in the same month, the Russian side held $ 74.6 billion in American securities.