Are plants conscious?

From the 1960s to the present, many scientists believe that plants possess high level of sensory and intelligence abilities.

Stefano Mancuso, a professor at the International Laboratory of Plant Biology at the University of Florence, Italy, told the BBC a special discovery of his for the intelligence of plants last month. .

"We are confident that plants can perceive and express intelligence. Therefore, we apply techniques and methods that are often used to study animal perception , " Mancuso said.

He conducted experiments on two climbing beans. They are set to compete with each other, climbing on a stake. The loser felt that another tree had climbed on the stake first, and it began to look for alternatives.

"This shows that plants are aware of their physical environment and the behavior of other plants. In animals, we call this consciousness , " Mancuso said.

Many scientists believe that plants also have intelligence.(Photo: iStock).

Feeling about the community

Suzanne Simard, a professor of ecology at the University of British Columbia, conducted experiments on Douglas Pine (Douglas Fir) and discovered they could recognize their relatives when growing in an "neighbor" area. Strange plants and trees with surname. Douglas pine seemed to be felt when they were about to die, and ceded carbon to neighboring Douglas pines.

"My explanation was that Douglas pine knew he was dying and wanted to transfer its stored carbon to his relatives, because this would benefit symbiotic fungi and the community," Simard said.

Long-term memory of plants

In 2014, expert Monica Gagliano of the University of Western Australia published a study in the journal Oecologia about long-term memory testing of plants. She dropped the virgin tree (Mimosa Pudica) in the pot onto the foam cushion from a height that could shock the tree, but did not harm them. The virginal plant has a special characteristic that is closing the leaf when exposed, so we can easily observe its reaction to the stimulus.

Monica Gagliano keeps track of the plant's response and she realizes that the virgins finally learn that falling does not harm them, so they don't react. Although they still respond to other stimuli.The virgin tree even keeps a long-term memory of what they have learned in about 28 days . However, is the behavior expressed above the intelligence of plants?

"We see the Venus flytrap is capable of pinching its leaves to catch prey. I can call it " intelligence, " but that doesn't help me understand all the biological mechanisms of this plant. We have to be very clear about the terminology, " Daniel Chamovitz of Tel Aviv University (Israel), and author of " What Plants Know " , said.

Emotional and extrasensory ability of plants

Plants seem to have an emotional reaction when Cleve Backster tested them with a lie detector in 1966. Backster is a former CIA lie detector expert. He developed lie detection techniques, and they are still used by the US military and government agencies today. He performed the experiment on the Dracaena tree and presented the detailed results in the book "The Secret Life of Plants - The Secret Life of Plants".

Backster had two Dracaena plants and he connected a tree to a lie detector. He let one person step on the other tree. When this action is taken, the lie detector shows that the tree witnesses the fear signal.

Growing bean plants after searching for alternative stakes.(Photo: iStock).

Marcel Vogel, senior scientist working at IBM, continued Backster's experiment and found that the plant's response seemed to be influenced by thought. Vogel checks the current generated from the tree. He saw the trees respond quickly when he breathed quickly and kept a thought in his mind, different from when his mind was empty and breathing slowly.

Dan Willis, former colleague of Vogel, explained about Vogel's experiment on the website MarcelVogel.org.

"The reaction of plants to thinking is the same whether that thought is 8 inches, 8 feet, or 8,000 miles away. He proved that while in Prague, Czechoslovakia can still impact. Plant connected to a recorder in his lab in San Jose , " Willis wrote.