Scientists Discover Trees Communicate Like Tolkien's Ents During Eclipse: 'Wisdom of Age'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Trees can communicate with one another during an eclipse, and older trees appear to be able to provide younger trees with important information, a new study found.
An international study revealed that trees, particularly older ones, display a coordinated, anticipatory response to solar eclipses—signaling to each other with bioelectrical pulses in a manner likened to J.R.R. Tolkien's sentient Ents from his classic The Lord of the Rings series.
'A new layer of complexity'
Researchers monitored multiple spruce trees in the Dolomites region of Italy during the October 2022 solar eclipse using ruggedized, low-power CyberTree devices.
The sensors captured real-time data, gathering the full suite of a tree's bioelectrical signals.
What they observed was startling: trees not only reacted to the eclipse, but began adjusting their internal electrical activity hours before the celestial event.
Stock image: A forest of trees.
Stock image: A forest of trees.
Photo by Mr_Twister / Getty Images
"This study illustrates the anticipatory and synchronized responses we observed are key to understanding how forests communicate and adapt, revealing a new layer of complexity in plant behavior," study author Monica Gagliano from Southern Cross University, Australia said in a press release.
"Basically, we are watching the famous 'wood wide web' in action!"
Older Trees Remember
Older trees showed the strongest early responses.
The ancient trees exhibited shifts in entropy and complexity—markers of active internal processes—well before the Moon's shadow crossed their canopy.
The phenomenon was described by scientists as a kind of "forest-wide synchrony," where trees operated not as isolated organisms, but as a coordinated community.
The anticipatory behavior wasn't triggered by changes in light or temperature—variables that remained largely unchanged until the eclipse.
Instead, the researchers suggest trees may use gravitational cues linked to the Sun-Moon-Earth alignment to "sense" the eclipse in advance.
"Our study bridges the gap between quantum physics and ecology, proposing that forests can be viewed through the lens of quantum field interactions," study author Alessandro Chiolerio told Newsweek in an email.
"We highlight the subtle and profound ways in which living systems are interconnected, not just biologically, but also physically and energetically."
'Huge step forward'
The study's theoretical framework, grounded in quantum field theory, supports the idea of entanglement among trees—suggesting that bioelectrical signals are phase-synchronized across individuals without requiring physical exchanges through air or soil.
During the eclipse, these synchronized electrical rhythms intensified and later settled into a new, more ordered pattern.
The researchers said that the findings show how important it is to make sure that older forests continue to thrive.
Chiolerio told Newsweek that he is leading a research proposal that will be submitted to the European Innovation Council.
"Details cannot be made public, but it will be a huge step forward, if funded," he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scientific American
an hour ago
- Scientific American
Can Trump's NASA Afford to Send Humans to Mars?
US President Donald Trump last week laid out one of the biggest challenges ever for NASA — to land the first humans on Mars. But his detailed budget request for the fiscal year 2026 also proposed cancelling dozens of the space agency's missions, including projects to study Earth, Mars and Venus. And the next day, on 31 May, Trump withdrew his nomination for NASA chief, the businessman and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman. All of this has left the space agency in turmoil, and the scientists who normally participate in NASA's missions split over whether they support the push for the red planet. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. A budget shortfall NASA has wanted to put people on Mars for decades, but both technological and budget limitations mean that probably will not happen until the 2040s under current plans. Trump wants to accelerate that timeline. On 30 May, the White House proposed to spend some US$1 billion in 2026 on Mars plans, including research into new spacesuits and an astronaut landing system. 'These investments will provide the technologies necessary for future Mars exploration and eventual crewed missions to Mars,' the NASA budget plan said. If the space agency really does want to focus on sending humans to Mars, space-policy specialists say, it will need to massively ramp up its spending. A human mission to Mars is likely to cost hundreds of billions of dollars spread over a number of years; the agency currently spends $25 billion a year on all of its programmes, and Trump has proposed cutting that to under $19 billion. 'Right now, with the budgets that are proposed, we can't afford to send people to Mars,' says John Grunsfeld, an astrophysicist and former NASA astronaut who led the agency's science programmes from 2012 to 2016. Trump's latest rhetoric on Mars echoes decisions he made during his first term as president, when, in 2017, he announced that NASA would send astronauts back to the Moon. In 2022, the agency tested a mega-rocket that is intended to achieve that objective, but that mission, Artemis I, was uncrewed. Many technical challenges remain before people can be put on the lunar surface — a goal currently slated for 2027. One challenge is achieving success with the giant Starship vehicle, built by the aerospace company SpaceX in Hawthorne, California. Once NASA's mega-rocket has propelled astronauts into lunar orbit, they will rendezvous with Starship, which will fly them to the Moon's surface. But Starship has yet to orbit Earth successfully, much less demonstrate the frequent launches and in-space refuellings needed for the Moon landing; its most recent test flight ended in an explosion on 27 May. Days after that blow-up, Elon Musk, the billionaire chief executive of SpaceX who has advised Trump, said he still hoped to launch the first Starship to Mars next year. Some scientists have been put off the idea of landing humans on Mars by Musk's involvement. The technology entrepreneur has long talked of colonizing the red planet, but with little consideration of societal ethics or international norms. In recent months, he led the Trump administration's efforts to downsize the US government and slash its science funding, even as SpaceX is likely to compete for billions of dollars' worth of government contracts on the quest for Mars. A tough environment Others are more excited about the prospect of landing people on the red planet. NASA has overseen missions to Mars many times, sending a series of robotic spacecraft, including the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers. Some researchers say that astronauts could explore more quickly and gain better insight into whether Mars has ever hosted extraterrestrial life. 'If we definitively want to answer the question of whether Mars had life or has life today, I think we have to send humans,' says Tanya Harrison, a planetary scientist with the Outer Space Institute who is based in Ottawa, Canada. But even those in favour caution that a journey to Mars would not only be costly — taking funding away from numerous other research programmes — but would also pose many physical risks. On the way to Mars, astronauts would face extreme isolation and higher doses of deadly space radiation over longer periods than they have ever been exposed to on the Moon or on space stations. If they were to land successfully on Mars, they would have to get out of their capsule without collapsing after the zero-gravity voyage; begin working in a frigid environment where the soil is full of toxic chemicals and there is almost no air to breathe; and deal with abrasive dust storms. There are solutions, such as living inside an underground lava tube that was created by volcanic activity, which could offer protection against radiation and dust storms. But visiting Mars will be like visiting Antarctica — another hostile, perilous environment — with vastly greater risks, scientists say. 'I want to disabuse people of the assumptions that they have that humans are going to be fine,' Erik Antonsen, a researcher in space physiology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, said at conference on human space exploration on 28 May. Science at the table Trump's proposal is likely to have support from some politicians in the US Congress. They might vote to appropriate at least a proportion of the vast sums required to go to Mars because they are keen to achieve exploration milestones before China's burgeoning space agency does. China has announced plans to put astronauts on the Moon by 2030, and on Mars after that. So some scientists are determined to make the best of it. 'Given that there is active planning going on for developing the architecture for human missions through NASA, we feel it's important that science has a seat at the table,' says Bruce Jakosky, a planetary scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder. He and others led a study in 2023 that identified key scientific goals, including studying astrobiology, that astronauts might accomplish on the red planet. In the near term, Jakosky says, NASA should prioritize a robotic mission to bring back dozens of rock, dirt and air samples gathered on Mars by the $2.7-billion Perseverance rover. Doing so would demonstrate that the agency is capable of sending spacecraft to and from Mars, he says, and would allow scientists to analyse the rocks for signs of life and for clues to how toxic the Martian surface could be. However, the agency has struggled with how to pay for such a mission, and Trump has proposed cancelling it. In Grunsfeld's view, NASA should focus on building a streamlined architecture to get humans to Mars as simply as possible. That could mean, for example, testing new spacesuit designs at the International Space Station and dropping plans for astronauts to build extensive Moon bases. 'We need to use the technology we have to the maximum extent,' he says. Whatever NASA, Congress and Trump decide, the current political uncertainty is a huge challenge, Harrison says. She worries that last week's proposals might not lead to sustained momentum: 'Is this blustering for right now, and will Mars be forgotten a year from now?'
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
'Doomsday Fish' Discoveries Spark Fears Of Impending Natural Disaster
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The recent discoveries of two rare deep-sea dwelling oarfish have sparked fears of a looming natural disaster. The fish were discovered in separate incidents in India and Tasmania within the last week. In the first incident, fishermen in Tamil Nadu, India, pulled a 30-foot oarfish from the water. The massive fish required seven men to hold it for the video. Stock image of an oarfish. Stock image of an oarfish. Photo by Eric Broder Van Dyke / Getty Images On June 2, a dogwalker named Sybil Robertson encountered a dead nine-foot specimen washed up on a Tasmanian beach and posted photos to a citizen scientist group on social media. "I just knew it was something unusual and weird," Sybil Robertson told The Daily Mail, describing the oarfish's markings as "fabulous". A 'Doomsday' Fish? Oarfish are sometimes known as "doomsday fish"—a reputation that stems from interpretations of the oarfish in Japanese folklore. As per Forbes, at least a dozen oarfish washed up onto Japan's coastline in the year before the 2011 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami, which brought the deep-sea creatures back to the forefront of the imagination. Doomsday fish have been found in Tamil Nadu, India. — ಸನಾತನ (@sanatan_kannada) May 31, 2025 Ben Fraber, an ichthyologist and the marine vertebrate collection manager at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, told Newsweek in a phone interview that the mythology was "compelling enough" to capture the public's attention. "You do see when there's a big change in pressure on land, birds and other animals will move out of the way," Fraber said. However, researchers in Japan took a closer look at the phenomenon, bringing in data points that included beached whales and anglerfish, as well as known natural disasters and earthquakes dating back to the early 1900s. "They found almost no correlation whatsoever," Fraber noted. "It's really interesting to think about, but it doesn't seem to have a statistical link that we can find." A Rare Find Fraber has seen oarfish in person—last year, two oarfish were discovered by employees of Scripps Institution of Oceanography who were out snorkeling for the day. The employees notified lifeguards, and the institute was able to work with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to bring the oarfish in. Fraber preserved the fish in formaldehyde and alcohol, and members of the public can see one of them currently in the Birch Aquarium at Scripps in San Diego. Fraber said oarfish sightings are relatively rare in Southern California—the two his team encountered were only the 21st and 22nd discovered since 1901. "Having the samples in person instead of just a video allows us to look at their stomach contents, look at their genetics, we'll get nitrogen and carbon isotopes that can tell us where they are in the open ocean food web," Fraber said. "And we preserve them so people in the future can continue asking questions from them." According to Fraber, oarfish are filter feeders whose jaws are modified so they can push them forward and vacuum water in, creating suction that traps food similar to bass or large whales. Oarfish primarily eat krill and small fish, which may be confused by the oarfish's silvery body that refracts light. "You're a little school of fish, you're swimming around, you see this thing, but it kind of just looks like a big jelly or gelatinous organism, something you're not too concerned about because a jellyfish is not going to try to eat you," Fraber said. "So you swim up and it's actually not that. It's this big fish that has a highly modified mouth that can protrude and create a kind of vacuum cleaner. It slurps up all these fish." A "Wow" Reaction Having handled and seen oarfish in person, Fraber understands the hype. "I think part of it is the size," he said. "Part of it is the look, they have this beautiful bright red fin, big silvery body, large eyes. "And part of it is the scale. We're not used to seeing animals that big—with the exception of sharks, dolphins and whales—so it elicits this kind of 'wow' reaction." Fraber noted that the mythology of sea serpents is probably related to misidentified oarfish long ago. "It's like actually getting to see this semi-mythological thing in person, it's not a myth, it's a real animal that's living with us on our planet, I think that makes it really amazing," he said. "Even though I've worked on fish for almost 20 years, and have handled many oarfish specimens, these two last year were the first time I actually got to see them fresh and unpreserved in person, and it was pretty magical."
Newsweek
3 hours ago
- Newsweek
Private Capital Is Missing the Opportunity of the Century
Climate adaptation has many challenges, but the disconnect between the world of finance and the universe of innovations and solutions to help us live on a hotter planet is arguably the most astonishing. It is perhaps the biggest market failure of our times. Around the world, scientists are working on new crop strains that are resistant to drought, flooding, and the increase in salinity of river delta soils. They are producing ever-more accurate and detailed weather forecasting tools. They are devising new technologies to harvest and save water, to fight disease, to control pests. This is vital work aimed at protecting us from the next famine, the next pandemic, or the next climate shock. But all too often, innovations die in the lab. Scientists already struggle to get their research funded. Finding additional backers for setting up pilot projects and testing new ideas in a commercial setting is often beyond their means. Women in the rice fields in the countryside of Hanoi, Vietnam. Women in the rice fields in the countryside of Hanoi, Vietnam. Getty Images This finance gap is frustrating because the commercial opportunities are real, and enormous. BlackRock, the global asset manager, sees climate adaptation emerging as "a new investment theme," with "extensive investment needed in products and solutions that build climate resilience." And GIC, the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore, estimates that annual global revenues from selected climate-adaptation solutions will grow to $4 trillion by 2050, from $1 trillion today. The corresponding investment opportunity is expected to surge from $2 trillion to $9 trillion over the same period. GIC predicts that climate adaptation will fuel growth across emerging technologies such as weather intelligence and traditional sectors such as construction and materials for more resilient buildings and infrastructure. Yet globally, less than 3 percent of adaptation actions are financed by private capital. Scaling Up Private Finance Why are financiers missing this opportunity? Partly, they are deterred by the perceived riskiness and uncertain returns integral to any new economic activity. Will governments, companies, and individuals be prudent enough to invest now that they face the rising probability of bad things happening in the future? How do we value innovations whose main purpose—like vaccines—is to prevent catastrophes from happening? Is a lack of information—dare we say imagination—to blame? We need more visibility, more foresight, and more awareness of the commercial opportunities climate resilience offers to bridge the finance gap for adaptation solutions. And that means engaging the full force of private capital—venture capitalists, private equity, and institutional investors—who are best placed to take early bets on scalable solutions. Consider Mirova's €350 million Sustainable Land Fund, which blends public and private capital to invest in nature-positive agriculture and land use. This kind of structure offers a powerful model for de-risking investment and catalyzing private capital at scale. Or look at the success of agritech startups raising early-stage VC funding in Kenya and India to deploy mobile platforms that deliver climate-resilient farming advice to smallholders—proving both commercial viability and impact. From an institutional perspective, we must also be smarter in the way we allocate public funding for adaptation. With public finances under pressure and development aid budgets shrinking, we need to make every cent count. Norway's strategy is to deploy public funds to leverage private capital for climate adaptation. In Africa, it is supporting a program to extend insurance against climate disasters to governments, cities, humanitarian organizations, and NGOs. The funds go toward helping insurers mitigate the risks of underwriting disaster relief policies. Climate adaptation often involves quite simple solutions that nonetheless require big investments. In South Africa, Norfund, the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries, has invested in ANB Group, a citrus and tropical fruit producer and exporter that needed to install nets to protect its crops from hail and other forms of extreme weather. The Global Center on Adaptation, meanwhile, has joined forces with CGIAR, a global network of agricultural research institutions, to scale up innovation for climate adaptation. Together, they are helping some of the largest financiers in Africa, including the African Development Bank, invest in the most effective new techniques. Accelerating Impact Often, a private partner's technological knowhow can be as valuable as its funding for turning great ideas into products that help people adapt to climate change. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a prime example. CGIAR has secured funding from the philanthropic arm of the tech champion, to use AI to screen some 132,000 strains of rice held in its gene banks around the world. The aim is to identify the most nutritious, high-yielding, and climate-resilient varieties in a fraction of the time it used to take. It is this creative union of technology, financing, and research power that gives us hope for the future. Many solutions to adapt, and even thrive, in a warming planet exist. The only missing piece in the equation is the entrepreneurship and capital needed to take these solutions to market. The climate adaptation ecosystem is a $4 trillion opportunity. Why say no to that? Åsmund Grøver Aukrust is Norway's minister for international development. Professor Patrick V. Verkooijen is president and CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation. The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.
