Stressed plants do make noises and may tell you that it's thirsty. Dry tomato and tobacco plants emit distinct ultrasonic clicks, something like a kid stomping on bubble wrap and also popped off when scientists snipped the plants’ stems.
Previous work had suggested that some plants produce vibrations and ultrasonic emissions. But those experiments used sensors connected directly to the plant,
Evolutionary biologist Lilach Hadany and her team at Tel Aviv University set up ultrasonic microphones next to, but not touching, living plants. The team wanted to find out if the plants could generate airborne sounds — vibrations that travel through the air.
The plants’ short sounds were about as loud as a typical conversation, but too high-pitched for humans to hear (though dogs’ ears might perk up). And each plant species had a recognizable “voice.” A machine learning algorithm the team created could tell the difference between clicks from tomato plants and tobacco plants. It could also pick out thirsty and hydrated plants.
The algorithm could even differentiate between plants when they sat in a noisy greenhouse, filled with the sounds of people talking and building renovations next door.
Still, it’s possible that other organisms eavesdrop on the noises, he says, something Hadany’s team is currently investigating. She is curious whether other plants or insects like moths, some of which can hear in the ultrasonic range, are tuning in. It’s possible moths, as well as mice and other mammals, could detect the noises as far as five meters away, the team suggests.
And tomato and tobacco weren’t the only plants that prattled. Similar sounds came from wheat, corn, Cabernet Sauvignon grapevines and pincushion cactus. “It is happening in so many different plants that grow in so many different environments,” says Ravishankar Palanivelu, a plant developmental biologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson who did not work on the study. “It seems like this is not a random thing.”
He doesn’t know if the sounds have any evolutionary significance, but, Palanivelu says, he thinks the study’s results will certainly generate some noise.
Link to listen to these sounds....
PS : Long time ago in the 1960's the CIA did a experiments using a Polygraph (Lie-Detector) attached to plants. The person who did these was Cleve Backster . His polygraph jumped the needle when he dropped a live shrimp into boiling water. If a dead shrimp is dropped it shows no movement. He eliminated his possible influence by devising a machine that dropped shrimps when he wasn't in the room. Still the same thing was observed. He called it "Primary Perception"
Then he got one person to chop a Cactus plant. When that person went near the other Cactus plant, the plant responded immediately.
So there could be things that we aren't aware of. Plants are living things. Who knows.
Previous work had suggested that some plants produce vibrations and ultrasonic emissions. But those experiments used sensors connected directly to the plant,
Evolutionary biologist Lilach Hadany and her team at Tel Aviv University set up ultrasonic microphones next to, but not touching, living plants. The team wanted to find out if the plants could generate airborne sounds — vibrations that travel through the air.
The plants’ short sounds were about as loud as a typical conversation, but too high-pitched for humans to hear (though dogs’ ears might perk up). And each plant species had a recognizable “voice.” A machine learning algorithm the team created could tell the difference between clicks from tomato plants and tobacco plants. It could also pick out thirsty and hydrated plants.
The algorithm could even differentiate between plants when they sat in a noisy greenhouse, filled with the sounds of people talking and building renovations next door.
Still, it’s possible that other organisms eavesdrop on the noises, he says, something Hadany’s team is currently investigating. She is curious whether other plants or insects like moths, some of which can hear in the ultrasonic range, are tuning in. It’s possible moths, as well as mice and other mammals, could detect the noises as far as five meters away, the team suggests.
And tomato and tobacco weren’t the only plants that prattled. Similar sounds came from wheat, corn, Cabernet Sauvignon grapevines and pincushion cactus. “It is happening in so many different plants that grow in so many different environments,” says Ravishankar Palanivelu, a plant developmental biologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson who did not work on the study. “It seems like this is not a random thing.”
He doesn’t know if the sounds have any evolutionary significance, but, Palanivelu says, he thinks the study’s results will certainly generate some noise.
Link to listen to these sounds....
PS : Long time ago in the 1960's the CIA did a experiments using a Polygraph (Lie-Detector) attached to plants. The person who did these was Cleve Backster . His polygraph jumped the needle when he dropped a live shrimp into boiling water. If a dead shrimp is dropped it shows no movement. He eliminated his possible influence by devising a machine that dropped shrimps when he wasn't in the room. Still the same thing was observed. He called it "Primary Perception"
Then he got one person to chop a Cactus plant. When that person went near the other Cactus plant, the plant responded immediately.
So there could be things that we aren't aware of. Plants are living things. Who knows.
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