Plants don’t have ears. But they can still detect sound
Sometimes they produce it, too
In 1986, when he was a mere prince, King Charles, Britain’s eco-minded monarch, told a television interviewer that it was important to talk to one’s plants. He was widely mocked. But that piece of princely wisdom seems to have been ahead of its time, for there is now plenty of evidence that plants can detect sound, react to it, and even, perhaps, produce it.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “The ears of corn”
From the September 9th 2023 edition
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