With the New Year now in full swing, we bring you a blog highlighting some new research about plants, in particular trees.
A study from French scientists has shown that dying trees emit noises just before they hit the ground, producing ‘ultrasonic pops’ which are 100 times faster than the human ear can hear.
The researchers at Grenoble University used cuttings from dead pine trees and soaked them in hydrogel to simulate a tree that is living. After then exposing the gel to an artificially dry environment to speed up the dehydration process, the researchers listened for noises caused by the build-up of air bubbles, which stimulates what happens to a tree as it goes through a drought and dies.
Could it be the philosophical question above from Bishop George Berkeley dating back to 1685 has now been answered? We’ll let you make your own mind up on that one.
To read the full article, click here.