Shepard Ambellas/Intellihub

They can ‘hear’ themselves being chewed

(INTELLIHUB) — It’s no different from eating an animal, plants are alive and have feelings too, scientists say.

According to the Daily Mail:

Most people don’t give a second thought when tucking into a plate of salad.

But perhaps we should be a bit more considerate when chomping on lettuce, as scientists have found that plants actually respond defensively to the sounds of themselves being eaten.

The researchers at the University of Missouri (MU) found that plants can identify sounds nearby, such as the sound of eating, and then react to the threats in their environment.

[…]

We found that “feeding vibrations” signal changes in the plant cells’ metabolism, creating more defensive chemicals that can repel attacks from caterpillars.’

Vegetarians beware.

*****

Established in 2013, Intellihub.com is ranked in the upper 1% traffic tier on the World Wide Web.