Plants are used to being mute, but according to a new study, they may be vocal. Voting also has a purpose, researchers speculate.
Some plants seem to have the ability to emit high-pitched sounds. Vocalization occurs especially when the plants are in a stressed state.
The startling findings emerge from a recent study conducted by researchers at Tel Aviv University.
The researchers placed microphones around tomatoes and tobacco plants, for example. Recordings were made both in an acoustic chamber and in a greenhouse.
The microphones recorded clicks reminiscent of popcorn popping. Their intensity was at the same level as human speech, but the frequency rose clearly above the human hearing range.
Instead, some animals, such as bats, mice and insects, can hear the ultrasonic sounds emitted by plants.
According to the researchers, vocalization occurs especially when the plants are in some way stressed. The sounds vary depending on how stressed the plant is: in the experiments there were plants that had not been watered for five days, and some had their stems cut.
The artificial intelligence learned to connect sounds and stress states
Different plants make their own sounds. Artificial intelligence was used to analyze the recordings, which learned to recognize the sounds of different plants and associate them with specific stress states.
The mechanism by which plants vocalize is still unclear. In addition, researchers are interested in whether other plants or animals react to vocalizations.
Based on the findings already obtained, Professor Hadany assumes that different organisms can get essential information from the sounds made by plants.
– We believe that people can also use data with the right tools – such as sensors that tell growers when plants need watering.
In the video published by the researchers, the sounds have been edited in such a way that a person can distinguish them. You can listen to the sounds here.
The results of the study have been published in Cell magazine.
*What thoughts did the story evoke? You can discuss the topic 2.4. until 11 p.m.*