Mar 31, 2023 05:41 PM
Global breakthrough: Plants emit sounds!
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/984411
KEY POINTS: The sounds emitted by plants are ultrasonic, beyond the hearing range of the human ear. Plant sounds are informative: mostly emitted when the plant is under stress, they contain information about its condition. The researchers mainly recorded tomato and tobacco plants; wheat, corn, cactus, and henbit were also recorded. The researchers: "Apparently, an idyllic field of flowers can be a rather noisy place. It's just that we can't hear the sounds!" (MORE - details)
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Plants emit ultrasonic sounds in rapid bursts when stressed, scientists say
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/...ntists-say
EXCERPTS: The discovery, described as “exciting and thought-provoking” by one independent expert, suggests the plant kingdom is not as silent as it seems, and that ultrasonic sounds emitted from plants might even help shape their ecosystems.
“When these plants are in good shape, they produce less than one sound per hour, but when stressed they emit many more, sometimes 30 to 50 per hour,” said Prof Lilach Hadany, an evolutionary biologist and theoretician at Tel Aviv University.
[...] At 40 to 80kHz, the sounds are too high-pitched for the human ear, which has an upper range of about 20kHz...
Writing in Cell, the scientists describe how the plants’ sounds are as loud as human speech and are emitted more frequently after two days without water. The pops peak at day five or six and then subside as the plant dries up.
[...] There is no evidence the sounds are an attempt to communicate, any more than a log declares distress by crackling on a fire. But Hadany said the sounds might nonetheless be useful for nearby creatures, perhaps affecting which plants animals feed on or where insects lay their eggs. It is unclear what creates the sounds, but the authors suspect a process called cavitation, where water columns in dehydrated plant stems break down, generating air bubbles... (MORE - missing details)
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/984411
KEY POINTS: The sounds emitted by plants are ultrasonic, beyond the hearing range of the human ear. Plant sounds are informative: mostly emitted when the plant is under stress, they contain information about its condition. The researchers mainly recorded tomato and tobacco plants; wheat, corn, cactus, and henbit were also recorded. The researchers: "Apparently, an idyllic field of flowers can be a rather noisy place. It's just that we can't hear the sounds!" (MORE - details)
- - - - - - -
Plants emit ultrasonic sounds in rapid bursts when stressed, scientists say
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/...ntists-say
EXCERPTS: The discovery, described as “exciting and thought-provoking” by one independent expert, suggests the plant kingdom is not as silent as it seems, and that ultrasonic sounds emitted from plants might even help shape their ecosystems.
“When these plants are in good shape, they produce less than one sound per hour, but when stressed they emit many more, sometimes 30 to 50 per hour,” said Prof Lilach Hadany, an evolutionary biologist and theoretician at Tel Aviv University.
[...] At 40 to 80kHz, the sounds are too high-pitched for the human ear, which has an upper range of about 20kHz...
Writing in Cell, the scientists describe how the plants’ sounds are as loud as human speech and are emitted more frequently after two days without water. The pops peak at day five or six and then subside as the plant dries up.
[...] There is no evidence the sounds are an attempt to communicate, any more than a log declares distress by crackling on a fire. But Hadany said the sounds might nonetheless be useful for nearby creatures, perhaps affecting which plants animals feed on or where insects lay their eggs. It is unclear what creates the sounds, but the authors suspect a process called cavitation, where water columns in dehydrated plant stems break down, generating air bubbles... (MORE - missing details)