Sunday, February 26, 2012

Call any vegetable (added music video)

StudyReveals Plants Can "Talk" To Each Other


[Editor's note: when I saw this short piece, it reminded me of a old Frank Zappa song that I have attached to the end of this article. I guess this is another instance of Zappa's genius at predicting future scientific advances]

An Israeli research team has discovered that plants may be listening in on the conversations around them. Professor Ariel Novoplansky and his staff at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev found that garden pea plants were able to identify and respond to signals given by nearby plants.



The plants they studied were able to eavesdrop on their neighbors and send warning signals in moments of "stress".
The study involved five garden pea plants, some of which were placed under tough conditions. The plants were isolated so that there could be no physical contact.