The incredible, intelligent abilities of plants with Zoë Schlanger

New Scientist CultureLab

What if we told you plants can hear and see? And memorise information? And track time to adapt their pollination techniques? And even look out for their family members? These are just some of the remarkable behaviours plants are capable of – many of which we’re only just learning about now.

Science journalist Zoë Schlanger’s new book The Light Eaters will make you question everything you currently assume about the green life around us, and even what “intelligence” can mean.

In this episode, Schlanger walks us through some of the incredible abilities and behaviours plants employ to not only survive, but thrive – from orchids sexually deceiving wasps, to shape-shifting vines that flew under the radar of researchers for decades. And, she suggests, it might be time to rethink how we do science to accommodate the seemingly endless adaptability of plants.

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