A new study by a group of scientists at the University of Western Australia has shown that plants have long-term memory. This added weight to earlier research showing that plants are capable of complex thought processes, including the ability to feel fear, happiness, the ability to communicate and even read people's minds.
Prince Charles once said that once he talked to plants and they answered him. The Economist article pointed out that while the prince was ridiculed for his statement, new discoveries confirm that Charles's remarks were not unfounded.
So let's take a look into the mind of plants
Plants have long-term memory - new research
Dr. Monica Galiano of the University of Western Australia led the study, which was published in the journal Oecologia. She and her colleagues threw bashful mimosa flowers planted in pots onto a shock-absorbing surface from a height, which was not dangerous for flowers. Mimosa was chosen for its ability to fold leaves in case of danger, so the reaction of this plant is very easy to observe.
The scientists wanted to find out if plants can understand that this process is not threatening them, and whether they can remember this for an extended period of time. The plants began to react after a few falls, they remembered that the action was harmless. Scientists made sure that this was not caused by the fact that the plants were simply tired and became unable to respond to stimuli. Plants reacted constantly to other selected stimuli.
The experiments were carried out on different plants and over different time periods. Some plants were not disturbed for 28 days after the first experiment. After so many days, they still remembered the lesson they had learned and did not react to falls, while responding to other stimuli.
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How can plants think without a brain?
Despite the fact that plants do not have a brain and nervous system, like other more highly developed organisms, scientists have put forward alternative hypotheses to explain this phenomenon. For example, the Economist suggests that information can be transmitted in the form of electrical signals through the advanced metabolic system of plants.
Plants have feelings
In 1966, Cleve Baxter made a discovery, after which people began to talk to their houseplants. Baxter worked as a lie detector specialist for the CIA. The system of detectors he developed is still used in the US military and government agencies. He carried out experiments on indoor plants, which he later described in his book "The Secret Life of Plants."
Cleve Baxter is experimenting with the dracaena plant
He took two dracaenas and connected the leaves of one of them to a lie detector. He told his assistant to trample one of the plants. When this was done, a polygraph attached to the second plant showed a graph that is indicative of how fear is displayed in humans.
Baxter continued the experiment. Various people entered the laboratory, including the man who destroyed the plant. The polygraph did not record any reaction from the plant to the rest of the people, but when the assistant entered and trampled the bush, the polygraph again displayed lines indicating fear. The plant appears to have recognized this person. Baxter also found that the plant felt joy when watered and even adept at reading people's minds.
Plants can read minds
One day Baxter was pondering what kind of experiment he should conduct. He thought he could burn the leaves of the plant to see what the reaction would be. As soon as he thought that, a polygraph attached to the plant showed fear.
Baxter's experiments have been replicated by other researchers, including the Russian scientist Alexander Dubrov and Marcel Vogel, who worked at IBM during his experiments with various plants, including sunflower.
Plants can "talk"
The ability of plants to communicate is another interesting topic to study. Dr. Galiano has researched this issue, it was published in Oxford Journals in 2012. Galiano explained that the ability of plants to produce sound waves is a well-known fact.
But many scientists are of the opinion that these sounds are a side reaction of plants to a lack of water, and not meaningful communication. But Galiano is not sure about this. She mentioned the experiments that showed that some of the sounds arise from the system of bubbles in the vessels of the xylem of plants.
She studied the process of plant communication. Sound waves are generated by resonating cavitation pores that occur when the plant lacks water. But Galiano notes: “The acoustic signals emitted by plants are very diverse. In addition, it has recently been proven that these sounds occur not only during dehydration and cavitation processes."
“The system of mechanisms that animals have to communicate with the environment and with each other has long been the subject of extensive scientific research. But with regard to plants, although such studies exist, they are not recognized and not as advanced as in the case of animals, Galiano writes. "This is especially true for plant bioacoustics and is all the more surprising given that the ability to sense sounds and vibrations is a phylogenetic sensory modality behind the behavioral order of all living organisms and their relationship with the environment."
Vogel's experiment
Marcel Vogel worked for 27 years as a senior research scientist at IBM; during this time, the scientist has patented over a hundred inventions. He conducted research on plants and made startling discoveries proving that not only can plants read people's minds, they also exhibit telepathic abilities over great distances. In addition, the more attention a person pays to a plant, the higher the plant's ability to perceive the thoughts of that person.
Vogel read articles about the experiments of Cleve Baxter, after which people began talking to their houseplants in the 1970s. At first, Vogel believed that Baxter's experiment was unreliable and that its results could not be true. Vogel decided to conduct a similar experiment. Dan Willis, a former Vogel researcher, has posted the results of his experiment on MarcelVogel.org.
Vogel connected the plants to a resistance measuring device capable of recording electrical currents. When Vogel's consciousness was clear and breathing was even, the plants showed no reaction. When the scientist breathed intermittently and kept a certain thought in his head, the plants reacted strongly.
Willis noted: “Plants are capable of perceiving human thoughts at different distances - be it 20 cm, two meters or two kilometers. This was confirmed by Vogel, who from Prague was able to influence the plant connected to the recording device in the laboratory in San Jose."
Observing how one of the plants reacts when the other is injured (cut, set fire to leaves, or uprooted), Vogel noticed that the reaction of the observer plant changed depending on how much attention the scientist paid to this plant. Vogel realized that the researcher's thoughts could influence the results of such experiments.
Willis explained: “This is one of the reasons why some scientific research in the field of subtle energies cannot be easily replicated. This is not always a matter of scientific protocol, but a matter of relationships. Unfortunately, many scientists believe that these are some kind of irrelevant and possibly annoying epiphenomena. And although such people are scientists, according to Marcel, they were technical specialists trying to prove that the things that they knew earlier are the truth."
