Plants can ‘hear' bees coming — and sweeten their nectar to greet them
It sounds like something out of a children's book: a helpful bee buzzes past a flower and the plant, delighted by its favourite visitor, sweetens its nectar to greet it.
However, research suggests this scenario may be closer to reality than previously imagined.
Scientists have discovered that snapdragon plants can 'hear' the buzz of their preferred pollinators and respond by boosting the sugar content of their nectar.
They also seem able to tell friend from foe. When the plants were exposed to the sounds of 'freeloader' insects that planned to sip their nectar without providing pollinating services in return, they withheld the sugary reward.
This acoustic sensitivity, the researchers said, may help snapdragons and other flowers attract the right visitors — and keep 'nectar thieves'
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The Independent
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Chimpanzees can ‘catch' yawns even from robots
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
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Nuclear fusion breakthrough: Germany's reactor sets a new record after running for 43 seconds - taking the world closer towards limitless clean energy
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Novimir Pablant, the division head for stellarator experiments at the US Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), said passing the 30-second mark is a key milestone. If a stellarator can reach this record for 30 seconds, there's no reason these plasma conditions couldn't be sustained for weeks, months or even years because 30 seconds is long enough for the scientists to see the relevant physics at work. 'This experiment ran long enough that nothing is changing any longer in terms of the plasma or experiment conditions,' Pablant said. In the experiments, a key role was played by a new pellet injector, developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. which injects a steady supply of frozen hydrogen pellets into the plasma, enabling long plasma durations through continuous refueling. 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Everyone can see ‘Bell' but only those with a high IQ can spot the word ‘Ball' in under 8 seconds
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