Scientists at the University of Western Australia attempted to grow chili seeds in the presence of other chili plants, basil plants, and alone. When grown alone germination rates were low, but when the chili seeds were able to communicate and grow with other plants, they became more successful. The scientists tried to separate the plants from the seeds with black plastic. This would eliminate light or chemical signals to the seeds. Even with the plastic the seeds still communicated with the plants. Overall the results show that plants positively influence seed growth. Scientists suspect this is because acoustic signals generated using nanomechanical oscillations are used to quickly communicate between plants.
Themes of Nature of Science
1. Science is collaborative.
2. Science is based on evidence.
4. Role of credibility
8. Importance of repeatability.
10. Role of motivation and curiosity.
I always thought that plants communicating or responding to sound was a myth. You always hear about science experiments where they test music and plant growth. I was curious so I looked up more about this and found some legitimate articles and research that shows this is possible. Its all very intriguing!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/10247/20120611/plants-communication-survival.htm
Rachel Nelson - Hour 1
I agree with Rachel! This is a very interesting discovery. In this article they explain how they heard the plants communicating with each other using loud speakers.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2157221/Maybe-Prince-Charles-right-British-scientists-reveal-plants-really-talk.html
ReplyDeleteThis was really interesting to hear about. You hear of people playing music to plants or talking to them to make them grow, but I didn't know it could really help. The fact that the plants seem to communcate through sound is really amazing. Even when they couldn't 'see' eachother, they still were satisfied. It would be really interesting to see if this was possible for other plants too like trees or root vegetables.
ReplyDeleteAn article I found states that plants can communicate to each other by making clicking noises. Researchers even suspended some plants in water while making the noise and the plants grew towards the source of the sound. Scientists at Exeter University also discovered that some plants communicate through chemicals.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/10247/20120611/plants-communication-survival.htm
That is such an interesting article! I imagined talking plants and encouraging each other to grow and develop in a cartoonish way. That is very similar to the way cells in our body communicate with each other and respond to each other.
ReplyDelete