Dive summary:

• Researchers who wanted to find a way to make softwood wood a better building material by making it less prone to warping and rotting looked to a hardwood for inspiration, and they found it.
• Locust trees push substances called flavonoids into their sapwood, making it a tougher and more water-resistant material called heartwood.
• When scientists put flavonoids, which occur widely in plants and are beneficial to humans, into the walls of spruce cells, the wood was harder and held its shape better despite changes in humidity.

From the article:

Using the legendary properties of heartwood from the black locust tree as their inspiration, scientists have discovered a way to improve the performance of softwoods widely used in construction. ...