Screaming Vegetables

Life is amazing. It really is, and I believe that we, children of this technologically advanced age, spend too much time not realizing what an absolute miracle it is to simply be, to exist in, and be part of this wondrous realm that is our living universe.

_{source: PxHere}

I sincerely believe that our lack of bewilderment and wonder about our living surroundings and our thinking selves contributes a great deal to our destructive behavior toward the living planet. A planet kept alive by the energy emanating from the closest star, the Sun, which should be a shining reminder that we're connected to everything out there, that we're an intricate part of the universe that's represented in our consciousnesses. We are a fleeting search-light, temporarily shining a light on that which is eternal and without limits, trying to find its place in all of it. But that light has become dim, as our lifes revolve around making it to the next day, rushing through a 24 hour economy, almost never slowing down, never standing still to take the time to realize what an amazing thing conscious life is.

So, to add some much needed perplexity, today I tell about the truth behind the old medieval myth of the screaming Mandrake root. I believe most of you will know of it through a scene from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, when prof. Sprout shows how to plant young Mandrakes. It's said that the cry of the mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it, and that great care has to be taken when pulling them from the soil. The root even features in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet:

"What with loathsome smells, And shrieks like mandrakes torn out of the earth, That living mortals, hearing them, run mad."
_{source: BBC News}

Plants aren't just passive bystanders in the game of life, not just meant as decoration or food; they can see, hear, feel touch and communicate among themselves as well as with other life-forms. They are aware of their surroundings, actively react to changes in that environment, and warn each other about these changes; that's exactly a description of a conscious being... I've written about plants' ability to communicate on several occasions in the past, like in The Wood Wide Web and Plants' Social Life, and also about our human blindness for plant-life in Curing Plant Blindness, so if you're a regular reader you already know that plants communicate extensively with the use of chemicals that are carried through the air, or through the intricate net of roots and fungi underground. This network is one of the main reasons why it's not a crazy hypothesis when it's claimed that old forests emanate an eerie sense of not just being alive, but having some sort of spirit or mind; in these ancient forests all plants, trees, flowers and fungi have been in communication with each other for centuries. Oooh what stories they could tell...

New research provides strong indications that the old myth about Mandrakes is actually true; plants really do scream when under stress! Only they do so in ultrasound; humans can hear sounds with frequencies up to 18 kilohertz, 20 tops, and plants' screams are in the 100 kilohertz range, the same frequency used by bats. They scream when they need water, when they're cut or under any kind of life-threatening stress. Just imagine what this could lead to. If we were actually able to someday communicate with our green friends, what would we be able to learn from a consciousness that hasn't moved from one spot in ages? Watch this video from our friend Anton Petrov, and subscribe to his channel; he's really a treasure trove full of news regarding new insights and discoveries made about the universe we inhabit.

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