A groundbreaking scientific study has recently revealed a startling fact: plants emit "screams" when they are cut.
The surprising finding has challenged our view of plants and how they handle stress.
Plants 'scream' when you cut them, according to research
According to the research published in the journal Cell, scientists conducted experiments involving tomato and tobacco plants.
These plants were subjected to various forms of stress, including dehydration and stem cutting.
The researchers used specialized recording equipment to capture the sounds emitted by the plants during these processes.
The findings of the study revealed that when plants are subjected to such stress, they emit distinct sounds that can be likened to screams.
Astonishingly, these sounds were found to be comparable in volume to human conversations.
Both tomato and tobacco plants made high-pitched sounds between 20 and 100 kilohertz.
The scientists believed that these sounds could be a way for the plants to show they were in distress and communicate with other nearby plants and organisms.
When the researchers cut the stem of a tomato plant, they heard 25 distress sounds in just one hour. The tobacco plants, on the other hand, made 15 distress sounds when their stems were cut.
Although these frequencies are typically beyond the range of human hearing, the recordings captured the audible evidence of the plants' responses.
The study further demonstrated that plants release a significant number of these "screams" when subjected to stress.
In just one hour, a single plant can emit anywhere between 30 to 50 of these audible signals, indicating the extent of their reaction to adverse conditions.
The researchers discovered that it is not only tomato and tobacco plants that exhibit this behavior.
The implications of this research are thought-provoking.
It challenges the conventional belief that plants lack the ability to communicate or experience distress.
While the mechanisms behind these plant "screams" are still not fully understood, scientists speculate that they may serve as a means of signaling distress to other plants or organisms in their environment.
The revelation of plants emitting sounds akin to screams has sparked a range of reactions among the public.
Some find it fascinating, appreciating the complexity and sensitivity of plant life.
Others are taken aback, and surprised by the extent to which plants can express their responses to adverse conditions.
Fascinating, but I do not think this article proved emitting sound means they experience pain. The plants emitted sound and released chemicals in defense, one user said.
I'm not a vegan (don't eat meat though), but it's kinda sad to think that plants feel pain too! The second user expressed.
Can't eat meat and now plants have feelings too. We are doomed! Another joked.
