It is generally accepted that representatives of the biological kingdom of plants have little in common with animals in terms of intelligence and other abilities. There is nothing surprising. Compare, for example, a bush and a monkey - the difference is striking. However, recently it became known that trees are more like us than we thought. It turned out that they not only know how to think, feel, and so on, at night they "sleep" in the same way as all living beings.
An international scientific group, consisting of Austrian, Hungarian and Finnish scientists, proved that there is a circadian rhythm in the life of trees, that is, a cyclical inconstancy of the intensity of biological processes associated with the change of night and day. In the dark, these processes slow down, and the trees "fall asleep", and with the onset of morning they "wake up" again, starting to intensively absorb sunlight. Specialists managed to catch these changes thanks to a high-precision laser scanner.
Finn Eetu Puttonen, one of the study's authors, says: “We have carried out long-term observations of trees in various parts of Europe and have found that these plants come to a drooping, drowsy state at night. With the onset of darkness, their branches and leaves drop - very slightly, but laser scanning can easily detect these changes. As soon as it becomes light, the leaves and branches rise again - they wake up. And this happens every day, that is, there is no doubt that these changes are systematic, and at night the trees are in a state similar to our sleep."
Trees fall asleep and dream
Scientists report that the branches and leaves of trees descend gradually each night, reaching their lowest position (the state of deepest sleep) a couple of hours before sunrise. With the onset of morning, they need about the same two hours to return to their original position, that is, to wake up completely. At the same time, researchers cannot yet determine what gives the signal for the "awakening" of plants - directly sunlight or the "biological alarm clock" of trees. Scientists are planning to soon erect a special ultraviolet-impenetrable sarcophagus around one of the wild-growing elms to determine whether the plants really go into and out of sleep, feeling sunlight and its absence on their leaves, or whether it's all about the biological clock. used by animals, birds and insects.
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Experts are convinced that their discovery is very significant for science. “Before, no one thought about the fact that trees can have much more in common with us than we think,” continues Eetu Puttonen. - Today it has already been proven that plants are intelligent and sensitive, moreover, they still possess telepathy, which is not given to us, sinners. Now it has become known for certain that they also sleep in the same way as people. Most likely, they see dreams. Maybe they are still capable of loving, brightly and selflessly, as is described in some folk songs? Humanity has yet to find answers to these important questions."