Plants swarm intelligence?

Research shows that roots of vegetables have collective intelligence, like honey bees and humans, that share information and solve problems together.

Botanist Frantisek Baluska and colleagues at the University of Bonn, Germany, claim that each root receives partial independent information, but then processes it through interaction with other roots to solve a problem. In general, it will not work alone.

The evidence for the superiority of the herd for individuals is abundant in nature. Honeybees in need of moving groups often agree to choose the ideal location even though the reconnaissance members propose different options.

Published in the December issue of Biological and Evolutionary Trends, Baluska said the roots can transmit information by chemical, air release or even bioelectricity. The roots need to decide which direction and how much to grow.

Only one tree can produce countless roots, such as a barley in research results that can grow to 13,815,672 roots. How to distribute requires intelligence. More importantly, the roots must also compete with roots of other plants to gain water and nutrients.

In an earlier experiment, when the roots were split into two separate parts, the root part in the pot showed a reaction when the other half encountered a " foreigner " competing. Trim the roots here also cause other reactions.

How does this root know what the other roots are doing is still an unanswered question. Baluska suggested that the " answer " could be bioelectric like neurons.

The idea of ​​a neuro-systemic plant comes from difficult interpretations of bioelectricity in plant tissues, which have caused storms in botanists in recent years.

Mr. David Robinson of Heidelberg University, Germany said that many people have turned grass plants into mysterious science. But even he acknowledged the roots of the trees are capable of working collectively.