Speculative Fact #330: Take a Closer Look at the Trees. They Might be Looking Back.

9/7/2016

There has been a lot of bad science over the years in the field of plant intelligence, much of it based on the unreplicable research of former CIA professional, Cleve Backster. But, that was years ago. Now, the science has changed. Now there are results. Though there is push back in the scientific community against calling any part of plant anatomy a neuron, many of the neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin, and other neurotransmitters have been found in plants.
Amongst a host of environmental stimuli plants' roots sense are gravity, light and sound. That's right, new research points to plants being able to hear water inside pipes and move towards it. And don't even get me started on how they communicate with each other over long distances. Even Darwin was enamored of them, writing on the concept of plant intelligence and had no problem using the "b" word.

“It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the tip of the radicle . . . having the power of directing the movements of the adjoining parts, acts like the brain of one of the lower animals; the brain being seated within the anterior end of the body, receiving impressions from the sense organs and directing the several movements.” -Darwin, "The Power of Moving Plants", 1880,

Whether you call the plants' behavior "thinking" or the internal wiring that allows said processes "neurons", it should cause you and your characters to stop and think, because you now have story fodder. Reimagine a new physiology or psychology for your aliens. At the very least you should have some empathy for the grass, right before you mow it down.

I remember a short story about a race of aliens living in a radically sped-up dimension of time arrive on Earth and, unable to detect any movement in humans, come to the logical conclusion that we are “inert material” with which they may do as they please. The aliens proceed ruthlessly to exploit us. - Stefano Mancuso, plant molecular biologist

-Rob Cameron

1 Comment

The Speculative Facts

The purpose of this page is to inspire and inform writers. Come to find that spark from the Picture Prompt of the Month, the Speculative Facts, our latest Pinterest Pins and the News Feed. Come to BSFW meetings to take your story through its paces and on to publication.

Speculative Fact contributions are researched and written by Jonathan Hernandez and Rob Cameron

The Muse Tweets

Mark Salzwedel

9/15/2016 02:25:10 pm

I have been doing a lot of research on this for my stories and because my sister is a professor of botany. The studies that I find interesting is how plants can respond to danger/predation. First, trees can sense when they are getting nibbled on by deer and when a branch or leaf has accidentally been removed. They can sense the deer's saliva, and in that case, they produce more salycylic acid to make their leaves more bitter tasting. They also release a gas that warns other trees in the vicinity to start preparing for the threat. There are also indications that trees communicate other things through vibrations in the soil or in underground connective media like fungi. Some plants like soybeans can also produce compounds that affect the metabolism of a variety of parasites when they attack. And if saplings are in danger of being denuded by herbivores, they can release hormones to help themselves grow up beyond the herbivores' reach faster.

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.