New Study Shows Plants Talk To Each Other Through The Soil Read More: New Study Shows Plants Talk To Each Other Through The Soil | Inhabitat -

Discussion in 'Science and Nature' started by Earth Ling, Jul 29, 2014.

  1. #1 Earth Ling, Jul 29, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 29, 2014
    http://inhabitat.com/plants-talk-to-each-other-through-a-messenger-in-the-soil/
     
     
    [​IMG]Image via Shutterstock
    A new study conducted by Dr. David Johnson at the University of Aberdeen found that plants actually communicate with one another through the soil. The study shows that when vegetables are infected with certain diseases, they alert other nearby plants to activate genes to ward off the disease when it heads their way. The key to this communication is a soil fungus that acts as a messenger.
     
    [​IMG]Image via Shutterstock
    Soil fungus and certain plants have a symbiotic relationship, according to the research team, who shared their findings with The Economist. The plants deliver food and the fungus delivers minerals. But now it turns out the fungal hyphae, which creates a network in the soil that connects the various plants, plays another essential role as a messenger.
    Related: Glowing Bioluminescent Plants for Lighting Nature's Way
    In 2010, a team of Chinese researchers found that when a tomato plant became infected with a leaf blight, it was able to somehow alert nearby tomato plants, which then prepared their defense. Dr. David Johnson and his team sought to find out by which mechanism the plants were able to communicate this information with Broad Bean plants.
    To prove that the plants were communicating through the soil, the team set up a series of “mesocosms” of five bean stalks each. Beans are often attacked by aphids. When this happens, they release a chemical that attracts wasps that then come around and annihilate the aphids.
    Related: 3 Houseplants to Feng Shui Your Home
    “Five weeks after the experiment began, all the plants were covered by bags that allowed carbon dioxide, oxygen and water vapour in and out, but stopped the passage of larger molecules, of the sort a beanstalk might use for signalling. Then, four days from the end, one of the 40-micron meshes in each mesocosm was rotated to sever any hyphae that had penetrated it, and the central plant was then infested with aphids.”
    You can read more about the experiment at The Economist, but the controls demonstrated that indeed the bean plants communicated to each other through the soil when it was found that one of them had been attacked by aphids!

    Read more: New Study Shows Plants Talk to Each Other Through the Soil | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

     
  2. #2 HitTheVapeandGetRealBaked, Jul 29, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 29, 2014
    If this universe is boundless, imagine a world where the plant life uses this same mechanism to wipe out nomads. Plant life communicating and Poisoning the fruits when people settle at a new place to prevent prospective deforestation. Cool to think about.

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  3.  
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Happening_(2008_film)
     
  4. i feel communication requires consciousness myself, otherwise its just cause and effect. the plants dont pick and choose when to release signals, its all automatic.
     
  5. Facial expressions are automatic, which is a form of communication.. soo?

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  6. Chemical signals for survival =\\= talking.

    Its an awesome discovery that plants can "communicate" but I feel like these studies are always presented in such a way to make plants seem sentient

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  7. Save yourself the fail. Bad movie IMO.


    "I'm to drunk, to taste this chicken" -Talladega nights
     
  8. I watched it last night=/ wish you would've warned me sooner!!

    I feel like my idea was cooler and untainted lol. Seems like wayyy more of an interesting movie than trees inconspicuously releasing noxious gases.

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  9. Sent from my SGH-M919 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
     
  10.  
    yeah. they gotta anamorphize it to appeal to a particular demo
     

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