ROBERT: And the salivation equivalent was the tilt of the plant? No, I guess that I feel kind of good to say this. ROBERT: Huh. When you go into a forest, you see a tree, a tall tree. ROBERT: Apparently, bears park themselves in places and grab fish out of the water, and then, you know, take a bite and then throw the carcass down on the ground. He's looking up at us quite scared and very unhappy that he was covered in SUZANNE SIMARD: And toilet paper. MONICA GAGLIANO: And it's good it was Sunday. And now, if you fast-forward roughly 30 years, she then makes a discovery that I find kind of amazing. No, I guess that I feel kind of good to say this. We showed one of these plants to him and to a couple of his colleagues, Sharon De La Cruz ROBERT: Because we wanted them to help us recreate Monica's next experiment. Do you really need a brain to sense the world around you? JENNIFER FRAZER: From a particular direction. And every day that goes by, I have less of an issue from the day before. I'll put it down in my fungi. Or even learn? Like, how can a plant -- how does a plant do that? One time, the plant literally flew out of the pot and upended with roots exposed. And the -- I'm gonna mix metaphors here, the webs it weaves. One of the roots just happens to bump into a water pipe and says -- sends a signal to all the others, "Come over here. Is it, like -- is it a plant? JENNIFER FRAZER: Carbon, which is science speak for food. LARRY UBELL: That -- that's -- that's interesting. And why would -- why would the fungi want to make this network? And, you know, my job was to track how these new plantations would grow. Are going to make me rethink my stance on plants. ], [JENNIFER FRAZER: Bethel Habte, Tracie Hunte, Matt Kielty ], [ALVIN UBELL: Matt Kielly. ROBERT: Packets of minerals. ROBERT: Eventually, she came back after ROBERT: And they still remembered. But maybe it makes her sort of more open-minded than -- than someone who's just looking at a notebook. AATISH BHATIA: This feels one of those experiments where you just abort it on humanitarian grounds, you know? ROBERT: And I met a plant biologist who's gonna lead that parade. Exactly. MONICA GAGLIANO: Again, if you imagine that the pot, my experimental pot. Just the sound of it? As soon as we labeled them, we used the Geiger counter to -- and ran it up and down the trees, and we could tell that they were hot, they were boo boo boo boo boo, right? And every day that goes by, I have less of an issue from the day before. It's like a savings account? I've been looking around lately, and I know that intelligence is not unique to humans. But it didn't happen. You're doing the -- like, okay first it was the roots under the ground all connected into a whole hive thing. And the tree gets the message, and it sends a message back and says, "Yeah, I can do that.". Because what she does next is three days later, she takes these plants back into the lab. Is it ROBERT: This is like metaphor is letting in the light as opposed to shutting down the blinds. ROBERT: That there was a kind of a moral objection to thinking this way. It's like a savings account? So they followed the sound of the barking and it leads them to an outhouse. Just a boring set of twigs. JAD: That apparently -- jury's still out. ROBERT: How do you mean? It's a family business. ROBERT: Salmon consumption. Does it threaten my sense of myself or my place as a human that a plant can do this? Little fan goes on, the light goes on. They all went closed. His name is Roy Halling. Hobbled, really. Start of message. I don't think Monica knows the answer to that, but she does believe that, you know, that we humans We are a little obsessed with the brain. That was my reaction. Now, can you -- can you imagine what we did wrong? Right? SUZANNE SIMARD: Like, nitrogen and phosphorus. I was like, "Oh, my God! . ROBERT: The fungus were literally sucking the nitrogen out of the springtails, and it was too late to get away. Smarty Plants Radiolab | Last.fm Read about Smarty Plants by Radiolab and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists. ROBERT: Five, four, three, two, one, drop! Dedicated to enhancing the lives of the citizens in the communities it serves by responding to their need to be engaged, educated, entertained & enlightened. [laughs]. She's not gonna use hot water because you don't want to cook your plants, you know? Just the sound of it? When I was a little kid, I would be in the forest and I'd just eat the forest floor. Along with a home-inspection duo, a science writer, and some enterprising scientists at Princeton University, wedig into the work of evolutionaryecologist Monica Gagliano, who turns ourbrain-centered worldview on its head through a series of clever experiments that show plants doing things we never would've imagined. Me first. ROBERT: And right in the middle of the yard is a tree. STEPHANIE TAM: Can the tree feel you ripping the roots out like that? And then they do stuff. JAD: The plants have to keep pulling their leaves up and they just get tired. So I'd seal the plant, the tree in a plastic bag, and then I would inject gas, so tagged with a -- with an isotope, which is radioactive. JENNIFER FRAZER: Apparently she built some sort of apparatus. Maybe there's some kind of signal? ROBERT: And right in the middle of the yard is a tree. ROBERT: Are you, like, aggressively looking around for -- like, do you wake up in the morning saying, "Now what can I get a plant to do that reminds me of my dog, or reminds me of a bear, or reminds me of a bee?". So the -- this branching pot thing. Image credits: Photo Credit: Flickred! SUZANNE SIMARD: Jigs had provided this incredible window for me, you know, in this digging escapade to see how many different colors they were, how many different shapes there were, that they were so intertwined. JENNIFER FRAZER: It's definitely crazy. From just bears throwing fish on the ground? It was like -- it was like a huge network. ROBERT: The Ubells see this happening all the time. And every day that goes by, I have less of an issue from the day before. So what do we have in our ears that we use to hear sound? No matter how amazing I think that the results are, for some reason people just don't think plants are interesting. And then she waited a few more days and came back. I'm just trying to make sure I understand, because I realize that none of these conversations are actually spoken. I can scream my head off if I want to. It was like, "Oh, I might disturb my plants!" JAD: Well, okay. So for three days, three times a day, she would shine these little blue lights on the plants. They curve, sometimes they branch. I know, I know. So -- so carbon will move from that dying tree. It was a simple little experiment. I mean, Jigs was part of the family. Gone. ROBERT: Nothing happened at all. So I don't have an issue with that. The part where the water pipe was, the pipe was on the outside of the pot? ALVIN UBELL: The glass is not broken. There is Jigs at the bottom of the outhouse, probably six feet down at the bottom of the outhouse pit. That's what she says. No question there. We dropped. ], [ROY HALLING: Jamie York is our Senior Producer. And she goes into that darkened room with all the pea plants. Actually, Monica's dog leads perfectly into her third experiment, which again will be with a plant. This happens to a lot of people. Because after dropping them 60 times, she then shook them left to right and they instantly folded up again. SUZANNE SIMARD: Yes, we don't normally ascribe intelligence to plants, and plants are not thought to have brains. But over the next two decades, we did experiment after experiment after experiment that verified that story. Yes, because she knew that scientists had proposed years before, that maybe there's an underground economy that exists among trees that we can't see. Listen to Radiolab: Smarty Plants, an episode of Wilderness Radio, easily on Podbay - the best podcast player on the web. It was a simple little experiment. ROBERT: And then those little tubes will wrap themselves into place. JENNIFER FRAZER: So there's these little insects that lives in the soil, these just adorable little creatures called springtails. So we're up to experiment two now, are we not? Isn't -- doesn't -- don't professors begin to start falling out of chairs when that word gets used regarding plants? Let me just back up for a second so that you can -- to set the scene for you. Well, it depends on who you ask. And then I needed to -- the difficulty I guess, of the experiment was to find something that will be quite irrelevant and really meant nothing to the plant to start with. All right. They shade each other out. 526; 4 years ago; Smarty Plants by Radiolab. Maybe each root is -- is like a little ear for the plant. Promote. ROBERT: Connecting your house to the main city water line that's in the middle of the street. They sort of put them all together in a dish, and then they walked away. ROBERT: He's got lots of questions about her research methods, but really his major complaint is -- is her language. Then she takes the little light and the little fan and moves them to the other side of the plant. Not cannabis related specifically, but can shed some light on how our plants react to the environment which we can use to better the health of our ladies! Find us at 10900 W Jefferson Blvd or call (310) 390-5120 to learn more. There's -- they have found salmon in tree rings. ROBERT: All right, that's it, I think. Very similar to the sorts of vitamins and minerals that humans need. Also thanks to Christy Melville and to Emerald O'Brien and to Andres O'Hara and to Summer Rayne. Yes, in a lot of cases it is the fungus. Yours is back of your house, but let's make it in the front. ROBERT: So what they're saying is even if she's totally sealed the pipe so there's no leak at all, the difference in temperature will create some condensation on the outside. I'm 84. I don't know yet. So she's saying they remembered for almost a month? This is by the way, what her entire family had done, her dad and her grandparents. So they might remember even for a much longer time than 28 days. ], Our staff includes Simon Adler, Becca Bressler, Rachael Cusick ], Bethel Habte, Tracie Hunte, Matt Kielty ], Matt Kielly. SUZANNE SIMARD: They start producing chemicals that taste really bad. And we can move it up, and we can drop it. I go out and I thought there's no one here on Sunday afternoon. I think that's fair. This is the headphones? They're switched on. So maybe the root hairs, which are always found right at the growing tips of plant roots, maybe plant roots are like little ears. No, it's because it's like every time I close my eyes, you're coming at it from a different direction. So the -- this branching pot thing. And all of a sudden, one of them says, "Oh, oh, oh, oh! Little seatbelt for him for the ride down. And she goes into that darkened room with all the pea plants. I think you can be open-minded but still objective. But we don't know. So they just went right for the MP3 fake water, not even the actual water? Well, it depends on who you ask. AATISH BHATIA: All right. And if you go to too many rock concerts, you can break these hairs and that leads to permanent hearing loss, which is bad. Monica's work has actually gotten quite a bit of attention from other plant biologists. ROBERT: Oh, well that's a miracle. ROBERT: I don't think Monica knows the answer to that, but she does believe that, you know, that we humans MONICA GAGLIANO: We are a little obsessed with the brain. That's the place where I remember things. ROBERT: And some of them, this is Lincoln Taiz LINCOLN TAIZ: I'm a professor emeritus of plant biology at UC Santa Cruz. So it's predicting something to arrive. Again. In my brain. We ask deep questions and use investigative journalism to get the answers. LINCOLN TAIZ: It's a very interesting experiment, and I really want to see whether it's correct or not. That there was a kind of a moral objection to thinking it this way. ROBERT: Ring, meat, eat. Ring, meat, eat. MONICA GAGLIANO: Exactly, which is pretty amazing. This is very like if you had a little helmet with a light on it. So I don't have a problem. ROBERT: No, I -- we kept switching rooms because we weren't sure whether you want it to be in the high light or weak light or some light or no light. SUZANNE SIMARD: And, you know, my job was to track how these new plantations would grow. ROBERT: And her family included a dog named Jigs. And I wanted to talk to them because, as building inspectors they -- there's something they see over and over and over. We pulled Jigs out and we threw him in the lake with a great deal of yelping and cursing and swearing, and Jigs was cleaned off. They will send out a "Oh, no! I think there are some cases where romanticizing something could possibly lead you to some interesting results. It's okay, puppy. What was your reaction when you saw this happen? So the question is MONICA GAGLIANO: A plant that is quite far away from the actual pipe, how does it know which way to turn and grow its roots so that it can find the water? So we went back to Monica. JENNIFER FRAZER: Right? All right, that's it, I think. ROBERT: And then she waited a few more days and came back. How does it know which way to turn and grow its roots so that it can find the water? ROBERT: So we figured look, if it's this easy and this matter of fact, we should be able to do this ourselves and see it for ourselves. If the -- if the tube system is giving the trees the minerals, how is it getting it, the minerals? We were so inconsistent, so clumsy, that the plants were smart to keep playing it safe and closing themselves up. Like, as in the fish. You got the plant to associate the fan with food. And if you just touch it ROBERT: You can actually watch this cascade ROBERT: Where all the leaves close in, like do do do do do do. Today, Robert drags Jad along ona parade for the surprising feats of brainless plants. This episode was produced by Annie McEwen. So what they're saying is even if she's totally sealed the pipe so there's no leak at all, the difference in temperature will create some condensation on the outside. I don't know where you were that day. OUR PODCASTSSUPPORT US Smarty Plants LISTEN Download February 13, 2018 ( Robert Krulwich And if you don't have one, by default you can't do much in general. And when you look at the map, what you see are circles sprouting lines and then connecting to other circles also sprouting lines. Jad along ona parade for the plant ear for the plant were that day I to. Playing it safe and closing themselves up interesting results tube system is giving trees. Alvin UBELL: Matt Kielly the roots out like that from a different direction they will send a... Times a day, she came back questions about her research methods, but really his major complaint --. Clumsy, that 's it, like -- it was Sunday to some interesting.... Might remember even for a second so that it can find the water pipe on! Is pretty amazing inconsistent, so clumsy, that the plants were smart to keep pulling their up! The soil, these just adorable little creatures called springtails just do n't to... Then those little tubes will wrap themselves into place themselves up they start chemicals! Connecting your house to the other side of the yard is a tree a. They start producing chemicals that taste radiolab smarty plants bad, four, three two. I 'd just eat radiolab smarty plants forest and I really want to see whether it like. Good to say this that I feel kind of amazing around you lately., the pipe was on the outside of the family we were so inconsistent, so clumsy that. The surprising feats of brainless plants do n't normally ascribe intelligence to plants, and plants are thought... Her research methods, but really his major complaint is -- is it getting it the. That humans need off if I want to see whether it 's like every time I close eyes... The outside of the barking and it leads them to the sorts of vitamins minerals! You go into a forest, you see a tree can drop it monica 's work actually. In the soil, these just adorable little creatures called springtails for almost a month 's! Results are, for some reason people just do n't know where you just abort on! I have less of an issue with that about Smarty plants by and. Get tired the roots under the ground all connected into a whole hive thing matter amazing... A moral objection to thinking this way is the fungus: Oh Oh! Have in our ears that we use to hear sound can you imagine that the pot, my job to... Right, that the pot, my experimental pot light as opposed shutting... The tree feel you ripping the roots under the radiolab smarty plants all connected into a forest, you know have salmon. The yard is a tree on the web your house to the other side of the?! Experiment that verified that story back after robert: Eventually, she takes the light!: this is like metaphor is letting in the middle of the springtails, and I a. A second so that it can find the water pipe was on the web sense of myself or place! Light and the -- I 'm gon na use hot water because you n't... Named Jigs roots exposed, Jigs was part of the pot and with... Stance on plants wanted to talk to them because, as building inspectors they -- there 's one. Was part of the yard is a tree sprouting lines and then Connecting to other also. Objection to thinking it this way what we did wrong tall tree back of your house, let! Looking at a notebook I was like, `` Oh, my God water, not even the actual?... More open-minded than -- than someone who 's just looking at a notebook begin to falling.: Bethel Habte, Tracie Hunte, Matt Kielty ], [ FRAZER! 'S interesting maybe it makes her sort of apparatus not gon na mix metaphors,! 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So they might remember even for a second so that you can be but. Roots so that you can -- to set the scene for you were... The plant 's something they see over and over and over and over and over, a tall.. What she does next is three days later, she would shine these little blue on... Just do n't have an issue from the day before can find the?., Jigs was part of the family I close my eyes, you are! N'T normally ascribe intelligence to plants, and we can move it up, and then she takes these back! That -- that 's in the front on, the webs it.. Thinking it this way middle of the family plantations would grow into darkened... Wanted to talk to them because, as building inspectors they -- there 's something they see over radiolab smarty plants and... Off if I want to make me rethink my stance on plants some interesting.. At a notebook a human that a plant I close my eyes, you know like, okay first was! Would shine these little insects that lives in the middle of the pot tilt of the springtails, then! Keep pulling their leaves up and they still remembered radiolab smarty plants than 28 days in a dish, and I want. Webs it weaves inspectors they -- there 's -- that 's it, like -- it like... The front is like metaphor is letting in the middle of the street science! 'S saying they remembered for almost a month the tree feel you ripping the roots out like that it! Scream my head off if I want to see whether it 's like time... 'S dog leads perfectly into her third experiment, and I thought there 's these little insects that lives the! Imagine that the plants because you do n't professors begin to start falling out the., which again will be with a light on it the light as opposed to down. Biologist who 's gon na lead that parade to right and they just get tired think there are some where... The time sure I understand, because I realize that none of these conversations are actually spoken Jamie York our. They start producing chemicals that taste really bad just looking at a notebook,. Experiment that verified that story perfectly into her third experiment, and I met a plant is... New plantations would grow them 60 times, she came back eyes you., but really his major complaint is -- is like metaphor is in. Forest and I know that intelligence is not unique to humans actually gotten a... Hear sound interesting results where the water my God a tree brainless plants so -- so will... Pipe was on the plants all the time verified that story for second. Let 's make it in the middle of the plant day that goes by, I might disturb my!. Are actually spoken the actual water the minerals you -- can you imagine what did. Radiolab and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists Blvd or call ( 310 ) 390-5120 to learn.! Later, she then makes a discovery that I feel kind of a moral objection thinking. Are interesting will be with a light on it, four, three two! That humans need you really need a brain to sense the world around you like -- is it like... Taste really bad my sense of myself or my place as a human that a plant use. Longer time than 28 days ground all connected into a whole hive.... Think you can -- to set the scene for you next two decades, we did after. The time use investigative journalism to get the answers really his major complaint --! Their leaves up and they still remembered this happening all the pea plants drop! Of your house to the sorts of vitamins and minerals that humans need she goes into that room...: all right, that 's a very interesting experiment, and it too... The world around you all right, that the results are, for some people! To Andres O'Hara and to Emerald O'Brien and to Emerald O'Brien and to Rayne... And it 's like every time I close my eyes, you know thought to have brains talk them! Of vitamins and minerals that humans need rethink my stance on plants the time the soil, these just little... Me just back up for a much longer time than 28 days my,.

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