Plant sense

Smithsonian article reminds me of this clip from the chapter on light in my book Sun of gOd, published 2009:

“…Take plants, for example. We now understand that plants breathe in air and expel it through a process known as transpiration, even though they have no lungs, as we know them. They absorb water and nutrients from the soil, taken up through their roots, and this is pumped through veins to all parts of the organism. They do this without a stomach or a heart, as we know them. Many gardeners swear by the ability of plants to respond to their spoken encouragement and to music, even though they have no ears, as we know them. Might plants also be able to perceive aspects of their surroundings, even though they do not possess eyes, as we know them?

The means to receive information about the local environment, through an eye-like organ, is a facility that is common to virtually all animal life forms, with few exceptions. Plants are far more tuned into the light than are we animals, relying on light-sensitive specialised cells to absorb the life-energy of photons, thus powering the photosynthesis that gives them form. Perhaps plants possess a means to read some of the information these photons are carrying, and we simply do not possess the means to recognise this faculty.”

I was delighted to see the article below in the Smithsonian Magazine reporting on new scientific findings that demonstrate the ability of plants in the experiment to hear. They are catching up, the scientific community, and starting to recognize that human beings are not the only intelligence on the planet.

From the Smithsonian Magazine

Flowers Sweeten Up When They Sense Bees Buzzing

A new study suggests plants can ‘hear’ the humming of nearby pollinators and increase their sugar content in response.

It’s a common assumption that auditory information is reserved for living things with ears and that creatures without cochlea—namely plants—don’t tune into a bee buzzing or the wind whistling. But a new study suggests the plants are listening, and some flowers even sweeten up their nectar when they sense a pollinator approaching

Sound is ubiquitous; plenty of species have harnessed the power of sound to their evolutionary advantage in some way or another—a wolf howls and rabbits run; a deer hears a thunder strike in the distance and seeks shelter, and birds sing to attract their mates. Plants have withstood the test of time, so logically so, they must react to such a crucial sensory tool as well, right? This question…to continue reading click Flowers sweeten when they hear bees

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