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For years, scientists have known that plants emit chemicals into the soil to communicate with each other. The plants send chemical messages through fungal networks to warn other plants about threats in their environment. Plants also emit electrical signals to sense and respond to what is going on around them. That lovely scent of a freshly mown lawn? It is actually all those blades of grass and flowers releasing chemicals as a cry for help with whatever is damaging them.
For those who feel they are doing something extra ethical by not eating “something with a face” and instead eat plants, this article might be interesting.
Plants make audible sounds to communicate stress
It turns out that not only do plants use chemicals, electrical signals and fungi to signal distress, they also make sounds. While above the limits of ordinary human hearing, the sounds plants make can be heard by insects and animals.
Last week we had an island of sunny dryness in an otherwise cold and rainy fortnight. Everyone in town cut their lawns at the same time. Imagine the disturbance in the Force that day. For those with ears to hear, the clicking-screams must have been deafening.
Like I care. I’m going to keep eating grass whenever I want!
I think Toby’s biggest complaint about the Great Mow Day was that all the tall grass clumps he chooses for #1 were gone at the same time. It was so hard to decide where to go.
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Feel like celebrating something galactic for May the Fourth? Then why not add an Alien Hand ASL pillow to your decor! The pistachio green hand forms the American Sign Language sign for “I love you”. This pillow would make a great gift for someone you think is “out of this world”!
This Alien Hand Pillow and many other fine items are available from my shop at L Bowman Studios.