International Bureau
2 April 2023
Did you ever heard your plants “Scream”? You might say they don’t make a sound so how can you! But New Study suggests otherwise. Yes, they make noise, but you can’t hear it. Plants make noise when thirsty or stressed. They make “airborne sounds,” according to a New study.
Plants that need water or have recently had their stems cut produce up to roughly 35 sounds per hour, the scientists found. But well-hydrated and uncut plants are much quieter, making only about one sound per hour. The reason you have probably never heard a thirsty plant make noise is that the sounds are ultrasonic — about 20–100 kilohertz. That means they are so high-pitched that very few humans could hear them. However, Some animals probably can. This discovery could help farmers determine when their crops are stressed, allowing for better care and management.
Researchers at Israel’s Tel Aviv University have for the first time recorded and analyzed sounds distinctly emitted by plants that click-like. These sounds are emitted at a volume similar to human speech, but at high frequencies, beyond the hearing range of the human ear. Scientists said in the paper that, “We recorded ultrasonic sounds emitted by tomato and tobacco plants inside an acoustic chamber, and in a greenhouse, while monitoring the plant’s physiological parameters.”