Plant Intelligence

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Wisconsin Public Radio

Prx, Philosophy, Knowledge, Wpr, Ttbook, Wisconsin, Society & Culture

4.7 • 844 Ratings

🗓️ 7 December 2024

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Have you ever wondered how plants find enough light and water? How they ward off attacks from predators? It turns out they’re a lot smarter than you realize. Some plants can hear a caterpillar munching on its leaves and then send out distress signals to activate their immune system. Certain flowers can trick bees into pollinating them, even when there’s no pollen. Plants also have memories. And they may even be able to see.

Original Air Date: December 07, 2024

Interviews In This Hour:
Plants don’t have brains, so why are they so smart? — How do trees ‘talk’ to each other?

Guests:
Zoë Schlanger, Suzanne Simard

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey friends.
0:07.7	There's a new science of plant intelligence that's changing how we view everything green and growing.
0:14.0	From huge creatures like trees and forests to tiny ferns and delicate mosses.
0:25.6	Plants turn out to have intelligence on a scale we never imagined. They're actively aware of the world.
0:27.6	They don't have ears, but they can kind of hear.
0:30.6	They communicate with other living creatures across distances.
0:34.6	They have social lives.
0:36.6	It's kind of mind-blowing.
0:39.8	Today on to the best of our knowledge. Plant intelligence.
0:48.7	From WPR.
0:53.1	It's to the best of our knowledge. I'm Anne Strain Champs.
0:58.4	Look at a plant and what do you see. Leaves, stems, branches, roots that stretch below ground.
1:05.8	But there's something else, something harder to see, but just as real, intelligence. Not unlike our own. Welcome to the new
1:16.5	science of plant intelligence. Learn enough about it, and you will never see a plant the same way again.
1:22.7	At least, that's what happened to Steve Paulson.
1:35.3	I think the common assumption is plants just have these automatic responses to stimuli in the environment around them.
1:40.3	Decision making means they can make choices. They have some, I would say, cognitive capacity to do that.
1:45.0	Can you give examples of how that works?
1:49.0	Sure.
1:50.0	This is science writer Zoe Schlinger.
1:54.0	We watch plants make decisions all the time based on where they choose to grow.
2:01.6	I love looking at trees, old trees.
	...

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