Bad news for vegetarians! Plants can ‘hear’ themselves being eaten - and become defensive when attacked
- Researchers from the University of Missouri found plants respond to attack
- They discovered the sound of caterpillars eating made them more defensive
- Plants that heard caterpillar sounds released more mustard oils, which are unappealing to caterpillars and thus ward them off
- But plants that heard the wind, despite having a similar acoustic sound, knew not to waste their defensive capabilities
- This suggests plants are able to identify sounds in their environment
Most people don't give a second thought when tucking into a plate of salad.
But perhaps we should be a bit more considerate when chomping on lettuce, as scientists have found that plants actually respond defensively to the sounds of themselves being eaten.
The researchers at the University of Missouri (MU) found that plants can identify sounds nearby, such as the sound of eating, and then react to the threats in their environment.
Researchers at the University of Missouri have determined that plants respond to the sounds that caterpillars make when eating and that the plants then respond with more defenses. Here a cabbage butterfly caterpillar feeds on an Arabidopsis plant with a piece of reflective tape helping to record vibrations
'Previous research has investigated how plants respond to acoustic energy, including music,' said Heidi Appel, senior research scientist in the Division of Plant Sciences in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and the Bond Life Sciences Center at MU.
PLANTS CAN 'TALK' TOO...
Researchers in Bonn, Germany, found plants give off a gas when under 'attack'.
Super-sensitive microphones picked up a 'bubbling' sound from a healthy plant.
But this rose to a piercing screech when it was under threat.
Even a tiny insect bite could have an effect.
'The more a plant is subjected to stress, the louder the signal,' said Dr Frank Kühnemann.
Plants do not actually scream in pain. But different sounds are heard when the gas they emit, ethylene, is bombarded with lasers.
The research could help to work out which pieces of fruit and vegetables are likely to stay fresh longer, as a cucumber which is starting to go off produces a squealing sound.
It could then be separated from the fresher ones.
'However, our work is the first example of how plants respond to an ecologically relevant vibration.
'We found that "feeding vibrations" signal changes in the plant cells' metabolism, creating more defensive chemicals that can repel attacks from caterpillars.'
Replies
Yes, photons do display life like properties such as shyness, knowledge etc. Consider the amazing experiment termed delayed quantum erazer experiment. Photons simply cannot spread while being observed, they are shy!
So there is no way out, not even dieing. Perharps the big crunch will solve this for us.:)
Nope, this is not a stupid post but a report about a scientific research. I had to search for more due to my experience with mimosa pudica. Then I found this wiki quote:
"...plants react to chemicals gravity, light, moisture, infections, temperature, oxygen and carbondioxide concentration, PARASITES INVASION, diseases, physical disruptions, sound and touch"
I realy like the 'parasite invasion' part because animals are infact parasites in plant kingdom. It is humiliating to us but it is true! When a plant sense your touch, it does not treat it as different from weevils, catapillers, locust etc. It does not see a vegan, it sees just that; a parasite. An intruder comming to damage what it has painstakingly manufactured! The fact that a plant doesn't have quick flight mechanisms does not mean that it likes being eaten any more than the fact that a chameleon cannot ran fast as compared to a lizard mean that it finds it ok to be eaten.
On the surface, plants doesn't look to have elaborate senses but when we zoom the lense, this assumption collapses. A SINGLE CELL is bewilderingly complex. Quantum tunnelling microscope has revolutionalised how scientist understand life. A single cell animal or at times categorised as a plant, such as an ecoli bacteria can do amazing things that questions the assumption that consciousness is atributed to an elaborate central nervous system. It has an intricate network of tubulin structures and quantum mechanics ways of sensing cannot be ruled out. A bacteria is a quantum computer!! If QM interconnectedness is responsible for inner sensing, the argument that plants lack nervous system is automatically null and void!
Now, plants manufacture amazing structures such as leaves (they appear valuless on the surface). They never do for parasites such as animals to chew them!
There is something problematic in seeing all these as 'meat eaters' thing. Non of the scientists involved, such as those writting in wiki give a dan about vegan-meateaters argument. It is not an issue popping up in a debate.
in that case Rama, why dont you try breatharianism , for a change and shut up.
hihihi................................................................meateaters have all kind of excusses , some more ridiculous than other , to try trully healthy diet that benefits personal health , health of planet and healthy future for all generations to come to live in peace with their sorroundings. Only vegetarian/vegan/and fruitarian lifestyle can provide such benefits for our , not only survival on this planet , but also our happiness for generations to come. Such articles are laughable at best for any argument comparring the pain the tortured animal endures to provide a meal and a plant(s) growing in the soil as a source of a food ......................hihihi, is all can say to this silly post.
ps.
trully , dude and the rest ; do you really think that such stupid articles will discourage vegetarians from eating healthy plants , and discourage new vwegetarians from trying a diet that benefits and promotes healthy lifestyle ?............please.
MICHAEL: AINT NO EXCUSES HERE. The scientific method was followed, and it proved that plants are sentient organisms, just like creatures that have "meat." But you are definitely correct about vegetarianism being far more healthy compared to meat-eating.
They're conscious, yet they lack a nervous system. So that makes it pretty much Ok on my list.
Image someone chewing on your arm, yet you don't feel anything, so it's completely fine. Then a leg, part of your entrails, a little bit of your face. And then you're one with it, you're a welcomed guest! Having contributed in their physical sustenance.
I'm vegan, mostly because it makes feel superior. That, and I wouldn't sacrifice myself for a highly advanced vaccine society, given they decide to invade on Earth.
Yes, that's pretty bad; I knew about this, but you have to eat SOMETHING!
VERY TRUE DARKSTAR. I'm not quite ready to turn in my canine teeth or protein enzymes quite yet. We can remember to quote Cat Stevens, who stated "baby baby, it's a wild world."
I guess we all have to become "breatharians"!
Live by breath alone. Bummer
That would be fine John, if the air wasn't sprayed with all these chemtrails.. I guess we are all screwed!