from Hacker News

Sounds emitted by plants under stress are airborne and informative

by ecosystem on 4/1/23, 1:39 AM with 178 comments

  • by dang on 4/1/23, 7:19 PM

  • by mcswell on 4/1/23, 7:52 PM

    I am astounded that no one has mentioned "The Sound Machine" by Roald Dahl (1949), in which a scientist invents a machine that makes ultrasonic sounds audible to humans. He discovers that plants scream when cut. You can read it at https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1949/09/17/the-sound-mach...

  • by svara on 4/1/23, 1:29 PM

    Informative here meaning that you can deduce something about a plant's condition from faint sounds emitted by it. It's not implying that the plants use those sounds for the purpose of transmitting information. From the article:

    "These results demonstrate the potential in studying plant bioacoustics, suggest that plant acoustic emissions may play an important role in ecology and evolution, and may have direct implications for plant monitoring in agriculture"

    To me even the "suggests..." part is wild overselling. IMO this should have been in such a high impact journal only if they had actually succeeded in demonstrating the ecological relevance, by showing that the sounds are detected and acted upon by other organisms.

  • by todd8 on 4/1/23, 5:38 PM

    How about this claim: pieces of string when stressed emit sounds that are picked up by nearby strings. Should be investigate this claim? What does it mean that the world of string acts this way.

    For those that haven't witnessed it, I will describe a very easily constructed experiment to demonstrate this phenomena that I have discovered: first stretch a string tightly and then quickly flick it with your finger, stressing it even more. If you listen, you will hears a sound emitted by the stressed string that gradually dies off as the string recovers. Nearby strings will start vibrating in sympathy (if they are tuned properly). Could one string be communicating with the other strings?

    Common objects may be used to make the experiment easier to perform: banjos, guitars, violins, etc.

  • by afarviral on 4/1/23, 7:31 AM

    My very unscientific take is the noises are the result of a mundane mechanical process that is a consequence of the plant not having enough water or loss of water due to cutting, which leads to some cavitation bubbles forming. So it may only be as interesting as saying that your water starts "screaming" when it is being boiled.

  • by scooperx on 4/1/23, 8:50 AM

    "Scream" is a sensationalist word, it anthromorphizes plants. You might as well say you can hear them sing Chop Suey's lyrics when they get cut down: Father, into your hands I commend my spirit Father, into your hands Why have you forsaken me? In your eyes forsaken me In your thoughts forsaken me In your heart forsaken me, oh

  • by ecosystem on 4/1/23, 1:41 AM

  • by Pigalowda on 4/1/23, 7:09 AM

    It's not quite clear yet how the plants make these sounds, but the scientists suspect it is a passive process linked to cavitation. This is when plants that are stressed pop air bubbles in their circulation system causing vibrations in the plant.

  • by signa11 on 4/1/23, 5:18 AM

    in this regard, i am always reminded of pioneering (in true sense of that word) work of jagdish-chandra-bose (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagadish_Chandra_Bose).

    it truly is fascinating !

  • by willcipriano on 4/1/23, 6:19 AM

    We know basically nothing about the world around us.

  • by petesergeant on 4/1/23, 2:35 PM

    Interestingly enough, The Economist’s April Fools joke is not dissimilar to this: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gene-editing-created-generati...

  • by kilianinbox on 4/1/23, 7:48 PM

    The intriguing sound produced by my guitar can be quite revealing, particularly when it’s out of tune. All physical objects have a resonant characteristic that conveys information. When an object, such as a sphere, undergoes a transformation, its resonance changes as well. Additionally, in systems with flowing components, specific flow rates can yield a wide range of patterns. Some might be chaotic, while others, like those arising from DNA replication, result in recognizable and recurring patterns.

    To delve deeper into this idea, ponder the question, “Can AI bridge the gap between human consciousness and that of other animals, like whales?” Investigating the inherent intelligence within these patterns can provide us with valuable insights.

    As we embark on an era where humanity sets an example for our behavior towards less powerful beings, it’s crucial to acknowledge that artificial general intelligence (AGI) might replicate our actions. The time has come for us to establish a benchmark and pave the way for a more ethical and harmonious world.

    Additionally, many have heard of animals that feast on fallen fruit. Embracing a similar approach could prove beneficial for humans before we contemplate altering our DNA to incorporate photosynthesis in the quest for ideal ethics. So, let’s keep an open mind and explore the possibilities! ;)

  • by DoreenMichele on 4/1/23, 7:30 AM

    I've been saying this for years.

    Should probably be merged with this:

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35396901

    Different links, but basically the same thing.

  • by pvaldes on 4/2/23, 9:57 PM

    >"sounds are airborne"

    ehhmm... yep?

    Do we know of any special type of sound unable to travel by the air that could be recorded by a microphone separated by several cm of air?

    >"this sound is informative"

    Not different than saying "Plants had evolved a plant telephone to be informed from other plants or inform animals that they need a pee, right now"

    Why a plant in a humid spot at the valley should suffer and react as its neighbors in a dry spot on the top of the hill? That would be inefficient and negative for their survival. Does not add much to the info that they have yet (collected with their own roots) and can be deceptive.

    I noticed that forks emit a sound when they are drop and hit the soil. So this means that is a mechanism to alert other forks of the danger. So forks must have ears. Pure logic.

    "We assume a link between many things that could be unrelated in order to sell animism 2.0 and grab eyeballs" would be a better title

  • by rukuu001 on 4/2/23, 8:31 AM

    I’m curious that this is surprising?

    Tree pheromone communication is well know.

    Plant -> fungus communication as well.

    Here’s a writeup that covers both: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-whispering...

    Is sound too shocking a step?

  • by leobg on 4/1/23, 5:57 AM

    So where is the device that I can buy and put next to my house plants so I’ll hear when they are thirsty?

  • by mejutoco on 4/1/23, 12:26 PM

    I recommend Overstory for a nice Pulitzer-winning books about how plants are similar to us but on a longer timeframe. It is full of beautiful stories too.

  • by withinboredom on 4/1/23, 7:11 AM

    Vegans aren't going to have anything to eat now... /s

    In all seriousness, this is wild.

  • by maartn on 4/1/23, 2:54 PM

    This must be april fools???

  • by Izkata on 4/2/23, 3:35 PM

    There was an article I read like a decade ago about some research that when bugs eat a particular tree, the tree would react in two ways: Emit some sort of chemical that hurt or resisted the bug, and emit something (can't remember if it was sound or something pheremone-like) that caused nearby trees of the same species to emit the same chemical, allowing them to proactively protect themselves.

  • by genr8 on 4/2/23, 1:34 PM

    I learned about this on Joe Rogan a couple years ago "Joe Rogan: Plants Know They're Being Eaten & Feel Pain!" https://www.reddit.com/r/JoeRogan/comments/641t0b/researcher...

  • by trickjarrett on 4/3/23, 5:03 AM

    I remember hearing this back in the late 90s and I came into my high school biology class and mentioned it. The teacher was kind enough not to call me a moron but he made clear he didn't believe it, and I didn't (and don't) remember where I had heard it back then. Glad to know I wasn't completely wrong for regurgitating that factoid then.

  • by leovander on 4/3/23, 3:56 AM

    I don't think even hard science can save the masterpiece of a movie, The Happening[0].

    [0] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0949731/

  • by kaapipo on 4/2/23, 11:07 AM

    So I could make a plant watering reminder system by listening to the ultrasound in theory

  • by eternalban on 4/2/23, 1:26 AM

  • by mobb_solo on 4/2/23, 2:28 PM

    "The Secret Life of Plants" -Tompkins & Bird (1973)

  • by badrabbit on 4/1/23, 7:45 PM

    Didn't the founder of scientology claim plants scream when they are in pain and even "invented" a machine to measure their pain? I wonder how they interpret this finding.

  • by costco on 4/1/23, 7:13 PM

    Interestingly L. Ron Hubbard was laughed at for saying tomatoes scream when [sliced](https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2012/06/16/meet-your-veget...). I don't know enough about this to know how important it is or whether it's actually some kind of signalling.

  • by AtomicOrbital on 4/1/23, 7:27 AM

    Implication is that they can also listen to such screaming

  • by henearkr on 4/2/23, 12:46 AM

    Wait before your hear the harrowing laments of the rocks cracking in the cold.

    /s

    No, more seriously, stop giving an emotional meaning to a sound.

  • by fnordpiglet on 4/3/23, 1:17 PM

    If I had to hear my salad scream it would make being a vegetarian much more difficult.

  • by pengaru on 4/1/23, 6:53 AM

      > And as we descended, cries of impending doom rose from the soil.
  > One thousand, nay a million voices full of fear. And terror possessed me then
  > And I begged, "Angel of the Lord, what are these tortured screams?"
  > And the angel said unto me, "These are the cries of the carrots, the cries of the carrots!
  > You see, Reverend Maynard, tomorrow is harvest day and to them it is the holocaust."

  • by Ekaros on 4/1/23, 8:45 AM

    Does this throw out the whole moral panic about animal welfare? If plants suffer too, isn't it wrong to eat them as well? Or there should be real focus in humane treatment and harvesting them?

  • by steponlego on 4/1/23, 1:50 PM

    Vegans are going to have to re-evaluate their life choices. It might be much more cruel to harvest a field of soybeans than it is to kill a cow.

  • by fionic2 on 4/2/23, 12:04 AM

    when a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it... does it make a sound?

  • by stametseater on 4/2/23, 2:35 PM

    The metal tin screams in pain when you bend it. Surely it is conscious..