Plants Aren’t Silent — We’re Finally Tuning Into Nature’s SOS Sound System

We just haven’t been listening properly

Image with Dall-E

For as long as we’ve been paying attention, plants have been the stoic monks of the natural world. Ocassionally they pull their best yoga move by stretching toward the sunlight. But that’s the most amount of action we’ve seen…so far.

No drama, no noise — just quiet, reliable photosynthesis.

But what if there was a whole other layer of plant life we’ve been unaware of because we’re deaf to it?

Plants may be silent to us, but that doesn’t mean they’re mute.

Ultrasonic whispers

A team of scientists at Tel Aviv University decided to find out if plants could emit sounds when under stress.

Or in other words, do your houseplants passive-aggressively complain when you forget to water them?

The quick answer is yes, just not in a way we humans can hear.

The goal of the research was to see if plants emit sound waves that could tell us when they’re in trouble, potentially revolutionizing how we monitor crops and manage resources.

The researchers took some tomato and tobacco plants, put them in a soundproof box, and then…