5 ms·

The Secrets of the Wood Wide Web

74 points by drainge 10y ago

portlander12345 10y ago
> Merlin Sheldrake Nominative determinism.
greggman 10y ago
This was also the topic of last week's Radiolab http://www.radiolab.org/story/from-tree-to-shining-tree/ http://www.radiolab.org/story/from-tree-to-shining-tree/
- mjs7231 10y ago
  I feel like this is happening a lot more recently. A great episode comes out on some podcast I'm listening to, then a slew of articles reiterating the same content comes out the following week. In a way, it feels like theft of someones hard work at researching a new topic.
  - ghaff 10y ago
    I don't know if this was the case here but what happens a lot of the time is that there's a new book or paper or whatever. Press releases get sent out or stories are otherwise pitched and you end up with different writers or producers creating variants of the same story.
  - yitchelle 10y ago
    > In a way, it feels like theft of someones hard work at researching a new topic. Not sure why you would want to cast a negative comment towards this article. Do you have any evidence?
internaut 10y ago
That is cool. I hope the authors of Samorost and Botanicula get to see this article, I'm sure they'll be interested.
XaspR8d 10y ago
Interesting to see the scientific pursuits of someone I only know through music! Gentle Mystics is worth checking out -- it's a wild blend of some sort of alternative electro swing with influences of gypsy jazz, hip hop, and chiptune. That said I think I personally prefer the solo work of Merlin's brother and bandmate Cosmo Sheldrake. You can certainly see the influence of biological science on his work as well, which includes songs about tardigrades and pelicans and moss. I'd recommend giving the Pelicans We EP [1] a listen; it's got some really varied and interesting influences as well. [1] https://soundcloud.com/cosmosheldrake/sets/pelicans-we-ep https://soundcloud.com/cosmosheldrake/sets/pelicans-we-ep
samatman 10y ago
On a suspicion, I checked, and yes, this is the son of "morphic resonance" biologist Rupert Sheldrake. I'd love to be a fly (agaric) on the wall at one of those family reunions!
- mathgenius 10y ago
  Yes you can. They hold workshops once a year on a small island north of vancouver. You just missed this years workshop: https://hollyhock.ca/programinfo/sheldrake/ https://hollyhock.ca/programinfo/sheldrake/
cyberferret 10y ago
Very cool. Coincidentally, I watched this fascinating talk by Suzanne Simard only yesterday, on how trees 'talk' to each other... http://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_simard_how_trees_talk_to_each_other http://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_simard_how_trees_talk_to_ea...
winkywooster 10y ago
There's also The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. There was an article about it earlier this year. [1] [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/30/world/europe/german-forest-ranger-finds-that-trees-have-social-networks-too.html http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/30/world/europe/german-forest...

74 points by drainge 10y ago

> Merlin Sheldrake Nominative determinism.

This was also the topic of last week's Radiolab http://www.radiolab.org/story/from-tree-to-shining-tree/ http://www.radiolab.org/story/from-tree-to-shining-tree/

mjs7231 10y ago
I feel like this is happening a lot more recently. A great episode comes out on some podcast I'm listening to, then a slew of articles reiterating the same content comes out the following week. In a way, it feels like theft of someones hard work at researching a new topic.
- ghaff 10y ago
  I don't know if this was the case here but what happens a lot of the time is that there's a new book or paper or whatever. Press releases get sent out or stories are otherwise pitched and you end up with different writers or producers creating variants of the same story.
- yitchelle 10y ago
  > In a way, it feels like theft of someones hard work at researching a new topic. Not sure why you would want to cast a negative comment towards this article. Do you have any evidence?

internaut 10y ago

That is cool. I hope the authors of Samorost and Botanicula get to see this article, I'm sure they'll be interested.

XaspR8d 10y ago

Interesting to see the scientific pursuits of someone I only know through music! Gentle Mystics is worth checking out -- it's a wild blend of some sort of alternative electro swing with influences of gypsy jazz, hip hop, and chiptune. That said I think I personally prefer the solo work of Merlin's brother and bandmate Cosmo Sheldrake. You can certainly see the influence of biological science on his work as well, which includes songs about tardigrades and pelicans and moss. I'd recommend giving the Pelicans We EP [1] a listen; it's got some really varied and interesting influences as well. [1] https://soundcloud.com/cosmosheldrake/sets/pelicans-we-ep https://soundcloud.com/cosmosheldrake/sets/pelicans-we-ep

samatman 10y ago

On a suspicion, I checked, and yes, this is the son of "morphic resonance" biologist Rupert Sheldrake. I'd love to be a fly (agaric) on the wall at one of those family reunions!

mathgenius 10y ago
Yes you can. They hold workshops once a year on a small island north of vancouver. You just missed this years workshop: https://hollyhock.ca/programinfo/sheldrake/ https://hollyhock.ca/programinfo/sheldrake/

cyberferret 10y ago

Very cool. Coincidentally, I watched this fascinating talk by Suzanne Simard only yesterday, on how trees 'talk' to each other... http://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_simard_how_trees_talk_to_each_other http://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_simard_how_trees_talk_to_ea...

winkywooster 10y ago

There's also The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. There was an article about it earlier this year. [1] [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/30/world/europe/german-forest-ranger-finds-that-trees-have-social-networks-too.html http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/30/world/europe/german-forest...