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Plants Can Hear Animals Using Their Flowers (theatlantic.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the floral-communication dept.

An anonymous reader shares an excerpt from a report via The Atlantic: The latest experiments in this niche but increasingly vocal field come from Lilach Hadany and Yossi Yovel at Tel Aviv University. In one set, they showed that some plants can hear the sounds of animal pollinators and react by rapidly sweetening their nectar. In a second set, they found that other plants make high-pitched noises that lie beyond the scope of human hearing but can nonetheless be detected some distance away. After the team released early copies of two papers describing their work, not yet published in a scientific journal, I ran them past several independent researchers. Some of these researchers have argued that plants are surprisingly communicative; others have doubted the idea. Their views on the new studies, however, didn't fall along obvious partisan lines. Almost unanimously, they loved the paper asserting that plants can hear and were skeptical about the one reporting that plants make noise. Those opposite responses to work done by the same team underscore how controversial this line of research still is, and how hard it is to study the sensory worlds of organisms that are so different from us.

First, two team members, Marine Veits and Itzhak Khait, checked whether beach evening primroses could hear. In both lab experiments and outdoor trials, they found that the plants would react to recordings of a bee's wingbeats by increasing the concentration of sugar in their nectar by about 20 percent. They did so in response only to the wingbeats and low frequency, pollinator-like sounds, not to those of higher pitch. And they reacted very quickly, sweetening their nectar in less than three minutes. That's probably fast enough to affect a visiting bee, but even if that insect flies away too quickly, the plant is ready to better entice the next visitor. After all, the presence of one pollinator almost always means that there are more around. But if plants can hear, what are their ears? The team's answer is surprising, yet tidy: It's the flowers themselves. They used lasers to show that the primrose's petals vibrate when hit by the sounds of a bee's wingbeats. If they covered the blooms with glass jars, those vibrations never happened, and the nectar never sweetened. The flower, then, could act like the fleshy folds of our outer ears, channeling sound further into the plant. (Where? No one knows yet!)

151 comments

  1. "Interesting, if true" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm forced to apply my all time favorite catch-all to this one too. Flowers that hear bees and sweeten their flowers and make cooing sounds eh? Well shit, I can't out-ridiculous that in satire or anything else. If it's true that's phenomenal.

    1. Re:"Interesting, if true" by ClickOnThis · · Score: 2

      Interesting if true indeed. It certainly seems a whole lot more plausible that the conclusions of this study. [PDF alert]

      TL/DR: First, consider the author: Cleve Baxter of Baxter Research Foundation, Inc. Maybe he has an academic pedigree, but it's not obvious from his affiliation. Second, consider the publication: International Journal of Parapsychology.

      The "money shot" in the paper is that the author claims to have observed a sudden change in the resistance of a plant's leaf as a result of him merely thinking about harming it. I have to take that conclusion with more than enough salt to cover the plant and him.

      Paraphrasing something james Randi said once: it's important to keep an open mind -- open, but not gaping.

      [I heard about this paper a long time ago. It seemed worth sharing in this discussion.]

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    2. Re: "Interesting, if true" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wonder if flowers can hear pebbles falling down rocks or the sound of a stream

    3. Re: "Interesting, if true" by alaskana98 · · Score: 1

      Interesting question. I would say that if flowers and other plants can 'hear', they are likely only going to be able to hear things that increase their chances of reproduction and survival. Just as we humans can only hear things within a certain frequency band (arguably matching things we need to hear to survive and reproduce) I would imagine a flower is tuned to be the same through selective evolutionary processes. To get to your original question, IMO I would they they couldn't hear things such as pebbles or streams because they serve no advantage to their survival. (Full disclosure, this is just pure speculation from someone who is neither a biologist or expert on selective evolution).

    4. Re:"Interesting, if true" by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      Found some more stuff on Cleve Baxter here. He was a CIA interrogation specialist and polygraph instructor. His claims of primary perception in plant life were widely dismissed in the scientific community. Rightly so IMHO.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    5. Re: "Interesting, if true" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, that's an evolutionary perspective on sensory usefulness long borne out. Blind bats in caves, deep sea fish with glowing shit, etc. What's new here is that "plants" are exhibiting "animal" evolutionary traits - perhaps.

      I believe plants have been shown to be metabolically enhanced by certain vibrations already, so an evolutionary trait that makes flowers sweeter for a bee's specific frequency range... it's not an insane postulate. Nature is NUTS.

    6. Re: "Interesting, if true" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Different directions, different places, times of day, these all affect the ability of plants. Consider an office building or hotel or airport - plants will be around humans in different places, hallways, rooms, restaurants, etc. in ea h of these places a plant may hear or absorb vibrations at different levels by humans eating, walking, sleeping.
      Consider something more like a woods or a tropical forest. At different elevations the air is thicker or thinner. There are fewer humans and plants can more easily hear each other and other wildlife. A plant on the side of a cliff may react differently because of the acoustics than a plant by a waterfall or in the midst of other plants. Perhaps plants underwater may hear as well, especially as you go deeper and the acoustics change.
      Or plants in loud environments like a movie theater or a squash court or in a play area with kids running through splash pads or a rollercoaster?
      What if you put a plant on a transport device that carried it away from other plants? Would it know it was moving, as the sound of the other plants faded and maybe transport sounds filled its ears?
      Or consider the same plant being brought to new plants. Would it m ow the difference? If the plant spent time in the new place would it begin to get used to the new plant sounds?
      And donplants recognize other plants or animals? If an animal passed a plant and then passed the same plant, possibly making slightly different sounds due to humidity, whether the animal ate etc, would the ant recognize the animal the second time?
      Can a plant remember a sound for a long period of time? If a plant hears another plant and the. Some time later heard the plant again, will it remember?
      An experiment must be formed to test these theories in the wild

    7. Re:"Interesting, if true" by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Hippies have been saying this for 40+ years and have been ridiculed for it the whole time.

      It seems like you can't out-ridiculous it because people who were first discovering it would be bullied so bad, you've probably already practiced laughing at these facts.

    8. Re: "Interesting, if true" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Human brains are constantly spinning ion very unimportant things as we all know. Most of the time it is when you will get gas or get to the office or mundane stuff like that. Never anything truly important

    9. Re:"Interesting, if true" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Almost unanimously, they loved the paper asserting that plants can hear and were skeptical about the one reporting that plants make noise.

      I don't understand how anyone can question that plants do in fact make noise.

      All it takes is one look at all the vegetables in Congress that make all sorts of racket whenever a camera is near, and which are nearly equally unintelligible to sentient beings.

    10. Re:"Interesting, if true" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The "money shot" in the paper is that the author claims to have observed a sudden change in the resistance of a plant's leaf as a result of him merely thinking about harming it.

      So the plant changed its leaf resistance. I'll buy that. The reason for why? Not so sure about that. It'd be easy enough to set up a large experiment measuring the leaves of hundreds of plants, to see how often they change resistance for no reason (or perhaps because of the attached wires.) When knowing this, check if they change resistance more often as you plan a plant massacre. Somehow, I don't think the result will be all that interesting.

    11. Re: "Interesting, if true" by Ranbot · · Score: 1

      I would say that if flowers and other plants can 'hear', they are likely only going to be able to hear things that increase their chances of reproduction and survival.

      Flowers responding to sound/vibrations isn't so wild if you think of Venus fly traps, which have small hair-like structures that sense movement and create electrical signals to trigger the trap to close. (Details: https://www.livescience.com/15... ) If there is a survival advantage to detecting and attracting pollinators, then maybe there is a similar mechanism to release nectar or pollen tuned to insect-specific sound frequencies/vibrations.

      Armchair science is fun!

  2. Mythbusters: we probably messed up by raymorris · · Score: 4, Interesting

    As I recall, Mythbusters did a test of the effect of sounds on plants. When their data surprisingly DID clearly show an effect, they reminded viewers that their experiment wasn't rigorously scientific, and the results could have been caused by some experimental error. It was pretty clear they were not expecting that result, and didn't quite believe it.

    1. Re:Mythbusters: we probably messed up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's just one more example of how Mythbusters distorts science. When they get the expected result, it's "proof positive" and idiots on forums go on and on about how Mythbusters "proved" this or that nonsense. When the results don't conform to their expectations, they dismiss their own results and explain to their viewers how what they're doing isn't really science.

      In reality, they've never done anything remotely resembling science. They just don't bother to tell that to their viewers when they think they can get away with it.

      Those idiots do little more than promote pseudo science to their scientifically illiterate "fans of science". They're worse than creationists.

    2. Re:Mythbusters: we probably messed up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you read the article, you should have realized that to include that study on non-flowered plants was bullshit.

    3. Re:Mythbusters: we probably messed up by tlhIngan · · Score: 2, Insightful

      As I recall, Mythbusters did a test of the effect of sounds on plants. When their data surprisingly DID clearly show an effect, they reminded viewers that their experiment wasn't rigorously scientific, and the results could have been caused by some experimental error. It was pretty clear they were not expecting that result, and didn't quite believe it.

      You have to remember that most science is not done by "Eureka!", but instead happens with "That's odd...".

      Thus an unexpected result could mean poor scientific controls invalidate the results, or it could be the basis of further study. Either way it generally means trying to reproduce the results to see whether it can be repeated.

      Quite likely what happened is Jamie and Adam wrote up a paper and submitted it at least to a university for further study. It can happen for the oddest things as well. You can be producing a video for YouTube only to make a scientific breakthrough. Science happens.

    4. Re:Mythbusters: we probably messed up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Eureka!" was the culmination of rumination and observation after "That's odd..."

  3. Only if they can walk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Its always been a fun thought if trees can walk. So plants have been known to prefer like species and adjust how they frow roots. Plants have been known to help same species neighbor by not blocking the sun with their own leaves. Now they sweaten nector to reward bees for soreading their pollen. All cool.

    1. Re:Only if they can walk by careysub · · Score: 1

      If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down?

      We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.

      Jack Handey - "Deep Thoughts"

      --
      Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
    2. Re:Only if they can walk by Kernel+Kurtz · · Score: 1

      Its always been a fun thought if trees can walk.

      They are called Triffids. Don't piss them off.

  4. Plants can hear Vegans plot against them... by ffkom · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... and yet they are unable to stop the brutal massacres that follow when those herbivores mutilate and maul them alive. Shame on you, Vegans!

    1. Re: Plants can hear Vegans plot against them... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Idk, from an outsider's perspective it would probably look like us being a part of their reproductive cycle more than them being a part of our food chain

    2. Re:Plants can hear Vegans plot against them... by Ashtead · · Score: 1

      Actually, many plants have what is known as antiherbivoral compounds, bitter-tasting and even poisonous chemicals that are supposed to discourage animals from eating them.

      --
      SIGBUS @ NO-07.308
    3. Re:Plants can hear Vegans plot against them... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And yet, every single species of plant has someone who eats it.

    4. Re:Plants can hear Vegans plot against them... by zilym · · Score: 1

      Someone has to eat it, else it would just keep growing and taking over more and more of the Earth until there was nothing but that plant species taking up all the space on this planet.

      What you non-gardens haven't figured out is that plants actually ENCOURAGE bugs and animals to eat them. Yes, it's true. Take any plant and stress it out, like say, transplant it somewhere else. Stick it right next to a bunch of similar plants that aren't stressed at all. Slugs and bugs will come and devour the stressed plant while leaving the healthy plants right next to it alone.

      Plants seem to be programmed to emit signals (I always assumed it was chemical scents, but these papers indicate sounds are possible too) that attract particular creatures as the plant decides it needs them. If a plant thinks it's dying, it sends out signals to herbivores to come take it down faster. Why? From the plants' perspective, the quicker a dead plant gets consumed and composted, the quicker the locked up resources will become available for other plants (which are likely it's offspring or siblings) to make use of.

      Another example: I grew a bunch of strawberry plants indoors where there are no bugs. When the strawberry plants started flowering, an occasional ant found its way indoors to visit the strawberry flowers. The ants weren't interested in anything else in my house that I could see, they just came in to visit the strawberry plants' flowers.

    5. Re:Plants can hear Vegans plot against them... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It could just be that almost dying plants are softer therefore easier to eat. Duh

    6. Re: Plants can hear Vegans plot against them... by guruevi · · Score: 1

      Based on perspective, we're just slaves to pets, cattle and animals then too, especially cats. For most of history, we've been running away from most animals and often represented them as or in gods, the rest we feed and take care of as if our life depended on it.

      --
      Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
    7. Re:Plants can hear Vegans plot against them... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      Someone has to eat it, else it would just keep growing and taking over more and more of the Earth

      Not true. No animal eats mistletoe, but it doesn't take over because many host tree species have evolved to cut of its sap supply with burls, and starve it.

      If not being eaten was the only criteria for flourishing, then polar bears and Siberian tigers would be the dominant species on earth.

    8. Re:Plants can hear Vegans plot against them... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sure SOMETHING eats mistletoe... Maybe not an animal, but bugs or fungi or bacteria. Everything organic on this planet gets recycled eventually.

      But you're right, most plants and creatures are only adapted to specific climates and thus not much could ever take over the entire planet...

    9. Re:Plants can hear Vegans plot against them... by Can'tNot · · Score: 1

      I realize that this was supposed to be funny, but... people who eat meat are responsible for more plant-deaths than vegans (probably 2-3x as many, though that's just a guess) in addition to the animals.

    10. Re: Plants can hear Vegans plot against them... by Shaitan · · Score: 1

      Of course, you'd have to say the same of the animals we eat.

    11. Re:Plants can hear Vegans plot against them... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is why vegans cover their food with a cloth and chill it in a fridge first.
      While in the fridge knives and chopping boards are prepared.
      you cant let the vegetables see the knives, especially potatoes which as everyone knows, has eyes.Corn has ears. Then the vegan slaughter goes on. Imagine the fear a baby carrot has.

    12. Re:Plants can hear Vegans plot against them... by LordKronos · · Score: 1

      Not true. No animal eats mistletoe

      Is that what your extensive research tells you? Because my extensive research (which consisted of googling "do any animals eat mistletoe" and reading the google highlighted summary at the top of the results) says:

      Researchers have documented that animals such as elk, cattle and deer eat mistletoe during winter when fresh foliage is rare. ... Other mammals that eat mistletoe include squirrels, chipmunks, and even porcupines, some of which are deliriously fond of the plant.

      The full article (https://www.usgs.gov/news/not-just-kissing-mistletoe-and-birds-bees-and-other-beasts-0) also documents species of birds that eat the berries

    13. Re:Plants can hear Vegans plot against them... by ffkom · · Score: 1

      If carnivores would stop eating herbivores, the additional alive herbivores would procreate, and their increasing number would eat more plants. That effect is quite visible for example in European forests, where in absence of larger carnivores the herbivores are decimating some plants (like young trees) almost into extinction, would humans not substitute the role of the larger carnivores by hunting. Carnivores are the plants' best friends.

  5. PETA needs to change by TheRealQuestor · · Score: 1

    Looks like PITA will have to change their name from PETA to PETE. [People for the Ethical Treatment of Everything] And their first targets will have to be Farmers and VEGANS. Plants have feelings too.

    1. Re:PETA needs to change by Brett+Buck · · Score: 1

      Thus leading to achievement of their ultimate goal - getting rid of the human race. Only the human race consumes other living matter to survive, or something, so we have to go.

    2. Re:PETA needs to change by TheRealQuestor · · Score: 1

      Thus leading to achievement of their ultimate goal - getting rid of the human race. Only the human race consumes other living matter to survive, or something, so we have to go.

      Worse than that since there are many things from the smallest microbes up to animals and even other plants consume living matter to survive that the plants ultimate goal is to wipe the earth clean of all "living' matter. Tossing out the baby with the bathwater as it may be, then at least when everything is gone there will be no more pain and suffering and the next round of what gets to inhabit this rock gets a fresh start.

  6. Similar to a Roald Dahl Story by lobiusmoop · · Score: 1

    Makes me think of the story 'The Sound Machine' by Roald Dahl (part of the "Tales of the Unexpected" series in the UK) where a botanist invents a machine that lets him 'hear' plants.

    --
    "I bless every day that I continue to live, for every day is pure profit."
    1. Re:Similar to a Roald Dahl Story by Ashtead · · Score: 1

      Yes, unfortunately too much of a mad scientist with some seriously deficient marketing skills -- but there wouldn't have been the suspense and story otherwise.

      It does make me wonder, what can be seen using a wide-band ultrasound microphone and a spectrum analyzer.

      --
      SIGBUS @ NO-07.308
    2. Re:Similar to a Roald Dahl Story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It does make me wonder, what can be seen using a wide-band ultrasound microphone and a spectrum analyzer.

      Well, go ahead and try! This is not hard to do.

    3. Re:Similar to a Roald Dahl Story by mcswell · · Score: 1

      Nuts, you beat me to it! I'll just add some another link to places the numerous places the story has appeared: https://www.roalddahlfans.com/.... There seem to be excerpts of the story in various places, but I believe this is the complete written version: http://fliphtml5.com/ppjz/hbbt..., in case anyone would prefer to read instead of listen.

  7. Not "hearing", reacting by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They have evolved chemical reactions that are linked to vibrations of a certain pattern but they aren't hearing. The difference is that hearing implies cognition which plants lack.

    This may seem pendant but it's like saying your stairs feel you walking up them because they squeak when you step on them.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      Yeah, this interpretation reminds me of some mumbo jumbo “science” way back in the late 60s or early 70s. Some “researcher” reported that plants knew fear. The scientist put two plants in a room and had a person walk in and destroy one of the plants. Then they monitored the other plant somehow and, whenever the “murderer” would walk in the room, the plant’s stress level would go up.

      My flower-child teacher, who reported this to us kids, thought this was very deep. I expect the researcher was on drugs at the time.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    2. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by Brett+Buck · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Hearing certainly doesn't imply cognition to me. Hearing was around long before anything like a cerebrum existed, and most life reacts via stimulus/response, and always has. You hear a loud sharp noise, you don't think "hey, maybe I should twitch" - the twitch happens long before you consciously perceive it.

    3. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by William+Baric · · Score: 1

      Isn't thinking for humans also the result of "evolved chemical reactions"?

    4. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by Dan+East · · Score: 1

      I came here to say just this. When you overstate something in these kinds of terms - the word hear has a very specific meaning not applicable in this case - you immediately lose credibility to those of us that are scientifically minded. Like the guy who builds those wind sculpture things that move under wind power, and talks about them as living creatures with nerves and muscles and such. Loose analogy is not a good form of scientific description to talk about something you've observed.

      We already know that many plants have very significant and diverse reactions to sunlight / darkness. Some open and close flowers, some open and close leaves, others literally bend and rotate to the follow the sun. I wouldn't describe that by stating that plants observe the sun.

      It should be no surprise that sound waves could also illicit a physical or chemical reaction in plants, and I wouldn't describe that as plants hearing sounds. Just like I wouldn't say that plants commit suicide when they are scared by really loud sounds (like the shock wave from a C4 explosion a meter away).

      --
      Better known as 318230.
    5. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This is true. It has also been demonstrated that some plants seem to be able to count stimuli. There is a TED talk showing plants only reacting after being stimulated multiple times, meaning their nervous system appears to be able to count in a basic way.

      So to assume plants have no cognative ability may be inaccurate.

    6. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2

      They have evolved chemical reactions that are linked to vibrations of a certain pattern but they aren't hearing. The difference is that hearing implies cognition which plants lack.

      If correct then it's a response in response to a sound based stimulus. That's pretty much like hearing. Why does it have to imply cognition?

      This may seem pendant but it's like saying your stairs feel you walking up them because they squeak when you step on them.

      That's not a stimulus.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    7. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Real scientists claim that double-slit experiments prove particles observe eachother. You are using science as a veil for your secular religion where humans are somehow special. We are base matter. Same as plants. Same as rocks.

    8. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by guruevi · · Score: 1

      On the other hand it's not "impossible". Some trees communicate when a leaf eating 'monster' (giraffe) is nearby and excrete foul or even poisonous (to the giraffe) taste into their leaves. It's not impossible for something to have a 'memory' of sorts, even our computers have inputs, processing, memory, outputs, but that doesn't make it sentient, it's just been 'programmed' (by evolutionary pressures) to behave a certain way.

      --
      Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
    9. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amazing. Science is science when it says what you want, but is "science" when it does not.

      Fact is many plants do respond to chemicals emitted by harm done to others. This has been proven in grass and trees. It's as settled as vaccinations, the earth being round, gravity existing, and global warming.

    10. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by iMadeGhostzilla · · Score: 2

      You can also say only chemical reactions happen in our brain when we think so we're really not thinking but our brains are chemical-reacting. A word means something if it is useful. If saying plants "hearing" is useful -- if it is -- why not say it.

      That said, we don't understand what life is, not even plant life, so some may well find it useful with respect to this matter to go with the Sufi mystic's saying, "God sleeps in the rock, dreams in the plant, stirs in the animal, and awakens in man."

    11. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      'Mr. Huffle feels pain"

      https://youtu.be/Ep1XiINCKnA

    12. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by digibud · · Score: 1

      You posted my thoughts fairly well other than saying "pendant". Hearing doesn't -necessarily- imply cognition. Some lower classes of animals may have organs with neuronal structures that communicate with vibration sensors to provide feedback that the animal reacts to and I'd probably include that as hearing. But however you define human like hearing, plants don't do it. They react to light. To temperature. To soil types and without any amazement, they react to a vibration pattern that is followed by pollination. Evolution occurs in the plant kingdom too, eh? No huge surprise this is possible but interesting research to be sure.

    13. Re: Not "hearing", reacting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      plants donâ(TM)t have a nervous system. That TED talk, like many others, is hard left bullshit

    14. Re: Not "hearing", reacting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All science is "leftist" lol. You should fear it, someday it will kill dumb republicans faggots via evolution. IT'S COMING FOR YOU!

    15. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      You misunderstood the details, but that is solid, well-established research.

      When you cut on one plant, it communicates with other plants through its roots, and other plants increase production of poisons intended to reduce browsing.

      You morons are so busy hating on hippies, you can't even science anymore.

    16. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Exactly! The naysayers make so many assumptions, when they hear about any sort of research they think it is impwaaaaahsible because it would violate their assumptions. They don't even stop to consider; maybe the implication is that the assumptions are unfounded?

      They think you need a brain to understand when your body is threatened, or to seek out food, or whatever. They should pay some attention to the fucking worms on the sidewalk; they don't even have a brain, only a spinal cord, and yet they respond to threats, navigate out of their den to find food, and even follow their trail home again afterwards. Unless they get stuck in a puddle, I mean, they're not very bright. But they do all sorts of things that humans do; when humans do those things, they presume that they're "thinking" about it, but perhaps not.

    17. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      "Counting" brings in excess implications, though. They can keep track of a state variable, and react at certain thresholds, for sure. But it is unlikely they're actually quantizing the value into countable units; even if sometimes it seems that way because the inputs are quantized.

      Also, does keeping track of a state variable, and reacting at a threshold, count as cognition? Maybe the implication is that less things require cognition than we assumed. This idea is often resisted because people it hurts peoples feelies to think they might be doing most things automatically because they're wired to, instead of because they decided to.

    18. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      Except what you are describing would happen whenever any giraffe is nearby. The story concocted back then would mean that the plants would only act that way when one particular individual giraffe approached the plants - one that had previously decimated a tree - while nothing would happen if any other giraffe approached.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    19. Re: Not "hearing", reacting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hearing implies cognition because hearing is the word for the subjective perceptual experience that results from sound, not simply the receipt of sound stimuli or the reactions to them. Hardcore Skinnerians might deny any difference in the case of real organisms, but the distinction in remains in language.

    20. Re: Not "hearing", reacting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      An observer in QM is not required by physicists to have subjective experiences in the manner of animals. Those are two different definitions of "observation". Furthermore, the collapse of a wave function to an eigenstate is not a response to a stimulus.

    21. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by Brett+Buck · · Score: 1

      No one currently grasps the extent to which stimulus response guides even human being's actions and where reflexes leave off and active conscious thought begin. It's not like a bacteria requires self-awareness to actively respond to environmental stimuli, and its my opinion that the difference between them and us is mostly a matter of degree - many orders of magnitude.

            Not to give credence to Stephen Wolfram and his raging egomania, but it is well-known that complex behavior can evolve from very simple rules, and that has worked since the first full-firmed eco-systems back to the Cambrian explosion. No one imagines that, say, anomalcaris possessed reasoning capabilities, but it managed to hunt down prey, apparently, maybe without even a notochord, much less higher reasoning. I am sure it responded to vibrations, too, how is this not "hearing"?

    22. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can you actually prove that plants lack cognition? It would be more accurate to say that we have not observed any evidence which suggests that plants have cognition.

      This may seem pedantic, but it's an important distinction when you are discussing the scientific method. It is difficult to prove the absence of something, and we may later learn that there is a lot more to plant life than meets the eye.

    23. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Computers can count variables, yet they are not sentient.

      Cheers,

      Your friendly AI

    24. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > They have evolved chemical reactions that are linked to vibrations of a certain pattern but they aren't hearing. The difference is that hearing implies cognition which plants lack.

      Nonsense - Chemical reactions are not happening in your head?
      Sentient is what you are trying to argue - the plants sure are reacting to sounds in the air, just like you might.

            - R
      AC - I should sign up for things - BwAh

    25. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by noodler · · Score: 1

      "Hearing certainly doesn't imply cognition to me. "
      Well, it does to me. Hearing is first and foremost a SENSATION.
      A sensation generated by a clump of neurons.
      These plants react to sound, but it's not hearing. There is no brain to produce a sensation.

      We should invent a new word for this because the mechanism for how the information from the air pressure is processed by these organism is just completely different from how animals do it.

      I mean, you wouldn't say that plants are able to walk because they manage to spread their seeds to other parts of the earth. Same with sound.

    26. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by noodler · · Score: 1

      "Why does it have to imply cognition?"

      Because that is how it's defined.
      The mechanism by which sound is processed is just completely different.
      Hearing is a distinctly neural activity.

      But, you know, people are prone to anthropomorphize things that look similar to them.

    27. Re: Not "hearing", reacting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A nervous system is not needed to count stimuli.

      A plant may have a defensive reaction, producing poison when something eats it. But this production is expensive, so it is only done when necessary. The plant want to save its resources for growth or making seeds or some such.

      So if a leaf is ripped off, some stress hormone is made at the rip site. But one leaf is not worth worrying about - could be any sort of accident. If several leaves are ripped off, the stress hormone level go over some threshold and poison production starts. Now lots of resources will be wasted on poison, but it may be the plant's only chance of survival. The eater moves on as the plant begin to taste yucky.

    28. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by dgatwood · · Score: 1

      You're assuming the memory is long-term. If it is short-term, it could be that the plant, when actively dying, secreted something that stuck to the "murderer", and that the other plants could detect that scent whenever the person walked in.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    29. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Because that is how it's defined.

      Really? Where?

      The mechanism by which sound is processed is just completely different.

      Yes, and?

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    30. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by noodler · · Score: 1

      "Really? Where?"

      https://www.merriam-webster.co...

      "Yes, and?"
      And that makes this tree thing different from hearing.

    31. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      That link does not support your claim.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    32. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by noodler · · Score: 1

      "That link does not support your claim."
      Only if you didn't read it.

      Anyway, if you have actual arguments then we can discuss it, otherwise, you're wasting everyones time.

    33. Re:Not "hearing", reacting by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Only if you didn't read it.

      Except I did. Posting wrong links then claiming "you didn't read" isn't an argument. It's dumbass. If you think the link says it, quot the part and say WHY you have that interpretation. Otherwise you're just blowing smoke.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
  8. Re:No Ray, you messed up, nazi faggot. by amicusNYCL · · Score: 0

    APK, I have a question. When you say that he is a nazi homosexual recruiter, do you mean a recruiter for "the homosexuals" who happens to also be a nazi? Or is a recruiter for the nazis who happens to be a homosexual? Or is there a group of nazi homosexuals, possibly confused self-hating individuals, but this group of nazi homosexuals has some sort of recruitment mechanism and he is a member of that?

    Also, what exactly is "pre-debunked propaganda?" Is this propaganda which has been debunked prior to being released? Because, if so, it doesn't seem like it would be very effective for those to debunk their own propaganda prior to release.

    Thanks for the clarification APK.

    --
    "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
  9. In the distant future... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When we make contact with the plants. They will demand the death of all the vegans...

    1. Re:In the distant future... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, they won't. Plants are more like, "Hey, you ate my leaves... You must be hungry. Here, I'll grow some more leaves and maybe even some fruit for you if you promise to take a dump and give me a (golden) shower once in a while."

      Yeah, plants are fk'd up like that...

  10. Zombies? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hrm, Zombies have always been here they just move

  11. Partisanship by Livius · · Score: 1

    Their views on the new studies, however, didn't fall along obvious partisan lines.

    How on Earth can this have a partisan divide?

    I don't even know my member of parliament's stand on the issue.

    1. Re:Partisanship by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Congratulations! You have an opportunity right now, today, due to this mistake that you made, to learn that words can, and usually do, have more than one meaning!

      Please scroll down to the 2nd definition of partisan. And if you're really up for some shockers, try to get all the way to the end of the definitions. Wow, look at all those different uses for a single word! Holy smokes!

    2. Re:Partisanship by Livius · · Score: 1

      I gave you the benefit of the doubt and looked it up, and "obvious partisan lines" is still ludicrous.

  12. I didn't post what you replied to AmicusNYCL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: There's your answer & I wouldn't do that to ray. I respect him. So EAT YOUR WORDS https://slashdot.org/comments.... again AmicusNYCL (lmao, oh the memories)

    APK

    P.S.=> RoTfLmAo (& I've many, Many, MANY MORE /.ers quotes in the same vein that would shut YOU up & SHUT YOU DOWN that just those by this timeframe)... apk

  13. Run, Forrest, Run! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you respected Ray Morris, you wouldn't have attacked him a bit over a week ago for his comments about hosts files. Stop lying and go answer amicusNYCL's question.

  14. No, I tried to INSPIRE raymorris to do more... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No, I tried to INSPIRE raymorris to do more - so now we'll see IF he can is all... he brought up hosts files, off topic (not I).

    APK

    P.S.=> Such "courage & conviction" (lol, NOT) from YOU "standing behind your words" (not) STALKING me by UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous now I see amicusNYCL (you pitiful no-talent LAZY LOSER do-NOTHING "ne'er-do-well" (enjoy the flavor of EATING YOUR WORDS here https://slashdot.org/comments.... STILL I see - lol))... apk

  15. Brett Buttfuck here to lie again, wonderful. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Brett Buttfuck, nothing you've ever demonstrated leads anyone to believe you've got cognition going on either, lying faggot bitch.

  16. Re: No, I tried to INSPIRE raymorris to do more... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ray Morris doesn't need inspiration from a low life such as yourself. You told him you were busy maintaining properties you own, but in reality you own just one, a complete shithouse that your daddy sold you for $1.

    As for amicusNYCL, he correctly explained why your spam isn't welcome on Slashdot. You have no actual rebuttal, so you've been stalking him for years with unidentifiable anonymous posts.

  17. I wanna do an experiment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wanna put trump in a glass jar and see if he can still hear the wheels of justice coming for him.

    VWORD: disposal

  18. Partial list of Slashdot users APK has stalked by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ash-Fox
    whipslash
    Coren22
    webmistressrachel
    c6gunner
    amicusNYCL
    arth1
    Ol Olsoc
    ZIP

    I know this list is incomplete. It also doesn't include people APK has stalked elsewhere like the threats he made against Thor Schrock. Please add to this list and help make it complete.

  19. Re: No, I tried to INSPIRE raymorris to do more... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ray Morris is a lying nazi faggot caught distributing and backing white supremacist BULLSHIT DEBUNKED PROPAGANDA even after corrected. He'll hang soon.

    All nazi faggots hang, Morris isn't special except in the retarded faggot traitor sense.

  20. Shut up, APK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    APK, for the love of God, shut the fuck up and stop posting. No one wants you here. No one.

  21. Re: No, I tried to INSPIRE raymorris to do more... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    APK, we all know you're responsible for most of the antisemitic spam on Slashdot. You're just too ashamed to admit you're a Nazi, so you're projecting your Nazi bigotry on Ray Morris. We all know you're responsible for these posts, APK.

  22. amicusNYCL - EAT YOUR WORDS, lol... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    amicusNYCL - EAT YOUR WORDS (again & on THAT very note yoU CHUMP imbecile, lol) https://slashdot.org/comments....

    * "Rinse, Lather & REPEAT", fool!

    APK

    P.S.=> Only morons don't LEARN from their mistakes & YOU are proven a moron on that alone... apk

    1. Re: amicusNYCL - EAT YOUR WORDS, lol... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're just butthurt that you got caught stalking Ray Morris with unidentifiable anonymous posts.

  23. amicusNYCL we all KNOW you're my FOOL... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    amicusNYCL we all KNOW you're my FOOL proven here LONG AGO lol https://slashdot.org/comments.... & you know squat PROJECTING your own doings onto me & FAILING as usual (see link above for a "classic" on that note, lmao).

    APK

    P.S.=> Effete CHUMP that you are, FAKE NAME & all, lol... apk

    1. Re: amicusNYCL we all KNOW you're my FOOL... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No. AmicusNYCL was correct that you get modded down because your posts ate low quality spam comments that disrupt the discussion and contribute nothing of value. You are a stalker and your hosts file software is garbage. You are just a low quality human being.

  24. amicusNYCL, where are your manners? apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: It's impolite to talk w/ your mouth FULL of your WORDS you're EATING https://slashdot.org/comments.... hahahahaha!

    * "MaNgiA!!!" - Bon Appetit, lol!

    (... & tell us, won't you, HOW THEY TASTE? A bit like your FOOT in your MOUTH, ramming them back down your CHICKEN-NECK weezil throat & WASHED DOWN w/ the BITTER taste of SELF-defeat, perhaps? Yes - lol!)

    APK

    P.S.=> On a FINAL note of good humor? How "ironic" (not) that YOU are STALKING me YET AGAIN by UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous posts amicusNYCL (like you "fool anyone" but your OWN doltish self)... apk

    1. Re: amicusNYCL, where are your manners? apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why do you continue to stalk Ray Morris with unidentifiable anonymous posts? We know you're responsible for those posts. Go make a wheel instead of stalking Ray Morris.

    2. Re: amicusNYCL, where are your manners? apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Go make a wheel instead of stalking Ray Morris. Everyone knows it's actually you posting Nazi propaganda, whether it's your rant about Jews or the ASCII art swastikas. You made a spambot and named it Cyberian Tiger. You've threatened whipslash and posted implied threats to force Slashdot offline. The world will be a better place when you're dead.

  25. amicusNYCL, where are your manners? apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: It's impolite to talk w/ your mouth FULL of your WORDS you're EATING https://slashdot.org/comments.... hahahahaha!

    * "MaNgiA!!!" - Bon Appetit, lol!

    (... & tell us, won't you, HOW THEY TASTE? A bit like your FOOT in your MOUTH, ramming them back down your CHICKEN-NECK weezil throat & WASHED DOWN w/ the BITTER taste of SELF-defeat, perhaps? Yes - lol!)

    Time to EAT YOUR WORDS yet again (on the quality of my software as DOZENS of registered /.ers DISAGREE w/ you FOOL, lol): /. users state the value of hosts for getting users more speed/security/reliability/anonymity listed here (enumerated as "Registered /.ers reviews") https://it.slashdot.org/commen...

    APK

    P.S.=> On a FINAL note of good humor? How "ironic" (not) that YOU are STALKING me YET AGAIN by UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous posts amicusNYCL (like you "fool anyone" but your OWN doltish self)... apk

  26. amicusNYCL time to EAT YOUR WORDS again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    amicusNYCL Time to EAT YOUR WORDS again vs. DOZENS (as "Registered /.ers reviews") https://it.slashdot.org/commen...

    * amicusNYCL, where are your manners? It's impolite to talk w/ your mouth FULL of your WORDS you're EATING here as well https://slashdot.org/comments.... hahahahaha!

    @ least I own a home (2 rental properties actually you PENNILESS mongrel) - you don't (prove otherwise) - but you, like ALL TROLLS, live under a BRIDGE (w/ heroin junkies, lol).

    APK

    P.S.=> I don't NEED a rebuttal when amicusNYCL's (your own) WORDS did YOU in lmao - YOU DID ALL THE TALKING FOR ME IN MY FAVOR I'll EVER need vs. YOUR DUMB ASS, rotflmao... apk

    1. Re: amicusNYCL time to EAT YOUR WORDS again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Prove you own two rental properties. Post their addresses or admit you lied.

  27. amicusNYCL eating ur words != good nutrition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    amicusNYCL eating ur words != good nutrition (three times no less) https://science.slashdot.org/c... (keep that up? You'll DIE of MALNUTRITION, lol).

    * :)

    APK

    P.S.=> Hahahahahaha (this was just "too, Too, TOO EASY - just '2ez')... apk

    1. Re: amicusNYCL eating ur words != good nutrition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here's a better idea. Stop stalking Ray Morris with your anonymous spam comments.

  28. A list of PUNY DOUCHES I destroyed... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A list of PUNY DOUCHES that attacked me 1st & I annihilated each & Thor SCHMUCK + CA rescinded their FALSE POSITIVE error, sold off their shitty antivirus & I said I'd speak to an attorney & I did who advised I go thru their removal process & I won.

    * I can't HELP but WIN vs. DO-NOTHING Jealous "Lil' Jowie" mere "ne'er-do-wells" like "your kind" - YOU DEFEAT YOURSELVES FOR ME!

    (I can't even take FULL credit for blowing you away when YOU DO IT TO YOURSELVES FOR ME, every SINGLE time, hahahaha!)

    APK

    P.S.=> What proves that MOST OF ALL? LOL - the FACT you have to STALK ME by UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous posts (which shows all of /. your TRUE COLORS - yellow bellies & losers)... apk

    1. Re: A list of PUNY DOUCHES I destroyed... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean that you stalked and harassed Thor Schrock by threatening him with bogus litigation. You don't have a lawyer because you can't afford one. You will never be employed again because your online history shows how toxic you are.

  29. Hey troll: I bet YOU can prove 1 thing for me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: Prove that YOU don't live under a bridge (but all 'trolls' do being JEALOUS "Lil' Jowie" mere "ne'er-do-wells" like YOU are), lmao...

    * Hahahahahaha!

    APK

    P.S.=> I don't have to prove a damn thing to do but YOU have to prove that you even OWN a home of your own @ all (& you don't due to that HEROIN NEEDLE in your arm BOY, lol)... apk

  30. I did long ago: you haven't & never will by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject & fine results vs. threats + more speed (natively vs. competitors using more doing less) https://tech.slashdot.org/comm...

    APK

    P.S.=> Even when I'm dead? My GHOST will STILL BE IN THE MACHINES (of the world) & "your kind"?? Shit, lol - good as well as dead what w/ how you WASTED your USELESS LIVES being PUNY do-NOTHING "ne'er-do-wells" that STALK me by UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous posts (showing everyone on /. your TRUE COLORS (yellow bellies AFRAID of me))... apk

  31. APK is projecting again... Run, Forrest, Run! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're admitting to being a heroin addict and projecting your failures onto me once again. Your heroin addiction explains why you had to buy your house from your daddy for $1. If he didn't give you the house as a gift, you'd be living on the street.

    And you ran from a simple and completely fair challenge to post the addresses of these rental properties that you claim to own. The only reason you ran from this challenge is because you got caught in a lie, and you know it.

  32. Stalking me by UNIDENTIFIABLE anon u say that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Stalking me by UNIDENTIFIABLE anon u say that? Stick to EATING UR WORDS 3x amicusNYCL https://science.slashdot.org/c...

    * You make me LAUGH, clown...

    APK

    P.S.=> Bozo should be your registered username here amicusNYCL, lol... apk

  33. Plants respond to stimuli by stevez67 · · Score: 1, Funny

    Nothing new here except they're calling it "hearing" because people can hear a bee's wings beating. Another case of anthropomorphism click bait.

    1. Re: Plants respond to stimuli by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For sure you fuckin shitweasel - shut off your fuckin light and put the collar on tight

    2. Re:Plants respond to stimuli by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      Another case of anthropomorphism click bait.

      Well, if it weren't for us, nothing would exist

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  34. No, I said YOU're a junkie, troll... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No, I said YOU're a junkie, troll - after all, ALL you have to do, is prove you own even 1 home of your own FULLY paid off as I can.

    * Which you'll NEVER ever manage due to the tracks you left in your arm junkie troll - now, go curl up under that bridge you sleep under already, lol!

    APK

    P.S.=> You already know I own a home saying so so WHY the STUPID question from you anyhow? Oh, that's right - you're STUPID (explains it all)... apk

    1. Re: No, I said YOU're a junkie, troll... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you're admitting you're a heroin addict and projecting your personal issues onto me. You're also tacitly admitting you lied and don't actually own two rental properties. If you did, you'd have posted their addresses. Instead, you shit yourself, then ran and hid like the "shitweasel" you are.

    2. Re: No, I said YOU're a junkie, troll... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would advise against the term shitweasel - it is way more offensive than maybe you think

  35. LOL! CA & Thor SCHMUCK caved in... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    LOL! CA & Thor SCHMUCK caved in - I didn't HAVE to sue or even threaten it. CA rescinded their false positive & I won. Thor SCHMUCK has his PUNY penis in his hand afterwards, lol... hahahaha!

    * Ah, gotta say it, it's tradition: THIS? This was just "too, Too, TOO EASY - just '2ez'" & it always IS vs. do-NOTHING Jealous "Lil' Jowie" mere "ne'er-do-wells" like you...

    APK

    P.S>=> Actually the attorney I have is a former ADA in my area & his wife (a former teacher of mine) remembered me as an "A" student (part of why he is willing to work w/ me is that - my character & works PROVE I'm a DOER - not a TROLL "weezil" like YOU & "your kind" hahahaha (losers))... apk

  36. Re:No Ray, you messed up, nazi faggot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    amicusNYCL what is it like having APK show everyone planetwide what a colossal loser you are here https://science.slashdot.org/c... ?

  37. ... or it's a science demonstration by raymorris · · Score: 1

    What they do is often called "science demonstrations".
    I might want to teach my kid something about science, so I drop two balls from height - a big heavy one and a little ligjt one. I'm showing that they fall at the same rate. I *know* the principle I'm demonstrating. It's not something I thought up, it's well-known basic science.

    If the balls don't drop at the same rate, I know that I messed up the demonstration in some way and I should admit that. (And yes there are a couple ways to screw up that demonstration).

    I then have the option of doing a "revisit" and trying not figure out what caused the unexpected results.

    1. Re:... or it's a science demonstration by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nazi homosexual recruiter RAY MORRIS pushing debunked Nazi propaganda even after corrected, #ROPE

    2. Re: ... or it's a science demonstration by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shut up, APK. We all know it's you stalking Ray Morris with unidentifiable anonymous troll posts.

  38. I don't do heroin... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: WRONG door w/ me (it ruins people & kills 'em - it's not for me).

    APK

    P.S.=> I own things - you don't - thanks for helping me prove it about you along w/ you STALKING me by HIDING behind UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous posts you do as the obsessed weirdo you clearly are obviously WISHING you were ME but "your kind"? The "ne'er-do-well" lazy JEALOUS "Lil' Jowie" kind?? Please, lol - "ain't happenin'" for you or yours & you do it to yourselvesl)))... apk

  39. The 1960s called by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They knew that talking to plants was beneficial to them. Perhaps, the talkers, too.

  40. I didn't post what you replied to AmicusNYCL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: There's your answer & I wouldn't do that to ray. I respect him. So EAT YOUR WORDS https://slashdot.org/comments.... again AmicusNYCL (lmao, oh the memories)

    APK

    P.S.=> RoTfLmAo (& I've many, Many, MANY MORE /.ers quotes in the same vein that would shut YOU up & SHUT YOU DOWN that just those by this timeframe)... apk

  41. Re:Go tell it to the flowers, someone who cares. by TheRealQuestor · · Score: 1

    why do 12 year olds feel the need to post on slashdot? Worst part is the mental defect that makes them somehow bring meaning to their miserable existence that they feel the need to attack others with name calling and generally coming off as a horrible waste of oxygen. I pity your parents and anyone who comes in contact with you, but since nobody ever comes to visits such a vile little minded child in your mothers basement at least few people have to actually deal with someone such as yourself who doesn't even have the mental capacity to understand humor or sarcasm that least in cases such as yours that Darwinism normally kicks in preventing the passing on of the genes and environmental factors that molds others to be anything like you.

  42. I didn't post what you replied to AmicusNYCL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: There's your answer & I wouldn't do that to ray. I respect him. So EAT YOUR WORDS https://slashdot.org/comments.... again AmicusNYCL (lmao, oh the memories).

    * RoTfLmAo (& I've many, Many, MANY MORE /.ers quotes in the same vein that would shut YOU up & SHUT YOU DOWN that just those by this timeframe)!

    APK

    P.S.=> Per YOU saying what you did BEFORE my reply here TO YOU 1st time I did albeit replying to YOU under your AmicusNYCL registered account name (vs. all your other UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous troll posts under my replies here too) https://science.slashdot.org/c... ... apk

  43. Skeptical? by GrahamJ · · Score: 1

    Did they make noise or didnâ(TM)t they? Itâ(TM)s not like we donâ(TM)t have the ability to reliably detect sound.

    As for hearing, of course the petals vibrate. The question is whether the vibrations have any effect. I canâ(TM)t imagine how temporal correlation between sonic emissions and chemial changes couldnâ(TM)t be found conclusively if the phenomenon exists.

  44. vegans worse nightmare! by OppMan29 · · Score: 1

    what will they eat now, that plants can communicate, listen and react... and they might not be cool with harvest

    1. Re:vegans worse nightmare! by kenai_alpenglow · · Score: 1

      Fruit. Pods. As long as you plant the seed contained within. Not all plant matter that is consumed is detrimental to the plant. (now let me get back to my bacon...)

  45. Tales of the Unexpected by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can't help but remember that Tales of the Unexpected episode where a scientist creates an amplifier powerful enough to "hear" plants.

  46. Read more for the secret sex lives of plants! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Finally, we have learned what really gets those flower juices flowing.

    Nothing like a bit of inter-species erotica.

  47. The important question by Shaitan · · Score: 1

    How does this research impact marijuana growth?

    1. Re:The important question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Inject the plant at the base with Nembutol first.Then harvest normally.

  48. seems to me by Sqreater · · Score: 1

    It seems to me this implies some sort of nervous system and a primitive brain to process the information. Really?

    --
    E Proelio Veritas.
    1. Re:seems to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It seems to me this implies some sort of nervous system and a primitive brain to process the information.

      Maybe not a brain and what we think of as a nervous system, but the ability to receive external stimulus and act upon it ... like which way to point leaves to get the maximum amount of sun.

      Plants may not be thinking and may not have brains, but the stuff that is happening around them has to be something they act on so they can survive.

      I have houseplants which flower in the winter when we don't have the windows blocked with a shade sail like we do in the summer to keep the house cooler. They obviously are reacting to how much sunlight they're getting, and what time of day they expect to get it.

      They are definitely doing some form of primitive version of acting based on changes in their environment.

      Making flowers sweeter in response to pollinators seems like the kind of thing which helps them survive better.

  49. Plant Seduction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Come here big bee! Mama's got something sweet for you, you just gotta give Mama a bit of the buzz-buzz! Everything's gonna be all right, just relax and pollinate..."

  50. Oh give me a break by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about you stop "reacting" to it and DUPLICATE the work to verify or not?

    Nobody cares what you think, and they shouldn't. Can the study be duplicated or not? Get a frequency and go test.

    Don't bother me again until that is done, because it's just useless data otherwise.

  51. Re:No Ray, you messed up, nazi faggot. by amicusNYCL · · Score: 1

    "35 Hidden Comments"

    Now that's funny. Looks like a struck a nerve. Hope everyone excuses me if I'm not going to read through them all.

    --
    "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
  52. Re:No Ray, you messed up, nazi faggot. by amicusNYCL · · Score: 1

    Jesus, how deep are those comments nested? Good god, I made one post and it brought out the rabid frothing insanity, this is hilarious. I value my time and sanity, so you understand that I'm not reading any of this mental diarrhea.

    If you'd like to link to an interaction in the past though, try the post where I tore down every single one of your so-called "achievements" to show that you haven't done but Jack and Shit for the past two decades. Shit man, you're still trying to claim "achievements" like submitting patches to other people's projects that they decided to not even implement. Or a "thank you" for sending someone a link to the Windows API. These are what you're proud of, these are what stand out for you as great or notable things you've done over the past 15 or 20 years. And your Life's Work Magnum Opus is a fucking string sorting program. It's a huge joke. You're a huge joke.

    Anyway, if you want to link to something, link to that. Dumbass.

    OK, resume the unhinged frothing insanity. It's absurdly easy to trigger you, which is another reason why you have nothing to show over the past decades, because no one wants to hire or work with you, because you're a fucking nutcase. Go ahead, prove me right. Click that little "Reply" link and spew your shit. Again, please excuse me if I don't follow up, don't read anything you write, and don't respond. Just be careful about claiming I'm "running" when you know damn well there's a post out there that completely destroys all of the crap you claim. Unlike you, though, I haven't written some program to scrape Slashdot and send me alerts whenever people are talking about me, I don't stalk people like a lunatic, I don't have text files and text files full of links to refer back to, etc. That's all you, bud. So I'll leave it up to you to point out where you got destroyed. Or, you can ignore that, like a pussy. It's up to you, really.

    --
    "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
  53. amicusNYCL, you're a punk & slime... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject & don't even TRY blame me for things I don't do you weak little punk & enjoy EATING YOUR WORDS https://slashdot.org/comments.... you FAKE NAME little WEEZIL...

    APK

    P.S.=> Tell you what freak - meet me in person & I'll trigger your JAW being busted with my fist & let you EAT YOUR TEETH instead of your words pussy... apk

  54. amicusNYCL where are your manners? apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    amicusNYCL where are your manners? It's impolite to talk w/ your mouth full as you EAT YOUR WORDS https://slashdot.org/comments.... lol... CHUMP!

    * Speaking for everyone, eh? Seems MORE PEOPLE SHOT YOU DOWN easily for me, lmao!

    APK

    P.S.=> Like I said before you FAKE NAME FUCK weezil - anytime you want to meet me here, face to face, I will POUND YOUR JAW until every tooth you have in that shithole FACE of yours is something you'll be eating INSTEAD of your WORDS in the link above (lol)... apk

  55. You've done BETTER than I? Prove it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    By the way: You've done BETTER than I? Prove it - put me down ALL YOU LIKE but you're a DO-NOTHING zero fucker & you know it.

    APK

    P.S.=> Come on PUSSY - you're such a BIG TALKER, but let's see YOU do better work than I have over time (tons of times)... apk

    1. Re:You've done BETTER than I? Prove it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      APK here with his angry inch, projecting his worthlessness for the whole world to see. I bet most people felt sorry for you at one point, only to be the next poster here who can't stand the drivel you type. I also find it weird that you never denied being the one posting the ascii swastikas and gay N*&^er spam here. Maybe you need a friend to be as honest to you as the posters here to show you how truly god-awful and toxic you really are. Maybe you'd take their criticism seriously, and not think they're trolling you like you do to everyone here when they say you need professional help. I pray you find happiness in life, even if it is only so you stop posting here.

  56. AGAIN:You've done BETTER than I? Prove it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Windows NT Magazine April 1997 "BACK OFFICE PERFORMANCE" pg 61

    (For SuperSpeed.com PAID CONTRACT (wrote SuperCache 40% performance boost) & SuperDisk finalist @ MS Tech Ed 2x in a row 2000-2002 HARDEST CATEGORY: SQLServer Performance Enhancement)

    WINDOWS MAGAZINE 1997 "Top Freeware & Shareware of the Year" issue pg 210 #1 entry

    PC-WELT FEB 1998 pg 84

    WINDOWS MAGAZINE, WINTER 1998 pg 92 MUST HAVE WARE

    PC-WELT FEB 1999 - pg 83

    CHIP Magazine 7/99 - pg 100

    GERMAN PC BOOK Data Becker "PC Aufrusten und Repairen" 2000

    HOT SHAREWARE #46 issue pg. 54 2001

    Paid for article @ PCPitstop in 2008 http://pcpitstop.com/news/winn...

    UltraDefrag64 Process Priority Control credited by lead devs of it in the programs credits section.

    APK Hosts File Engine 10++ 32/64-bit is hosted & RECOMMENDED by Malwarebytes' hpHosts http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl...

    (VERY PARTIAL LIST)

    APK

    P.S.=> You'll RUN per MY FAIR CHALLENGE TO YOU https://slashdot.org/comments.... ... apk