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If it can mimic plastic plants placed next to it, and do that repeatedly under more rigorous experimental conditions, then it would seem to suggest the conclusi

If it can mimic plastic plants placed next to it, and do that repeatedly under more rigorous experimental conditions, then it would seem to suggest the conclusion, that this vine can somehow visually 'see'.

anotheryou 3y ago
last time I checked evidence for that seemed a bit inconclusive
m3kw9 3y ago
its cells could detect discrete levels of light to detect a shape
HarHarVeryFunny 3y ago
The phenomena is very interesting, but the article is useless. This is a very simple and telling experiment - if the plant can mimic a plastic plant then it rules out all sort of potential explanations, and would have to be based on light (but let's not go overboard and say it'd require "vision" or a brain). So, why haven't hundreds of university labs, or amateur plant lovers attempted to replicate or improve the experiment, and if they have why doesn't the article present the results?
- samstave 3y ago
  Put plants made from Lego next to it and see if it’s mimicking the physical surrounding as it senses the environment from the way the photons are hitting it. If the photons also carry the color of and it can sense the color of the photons, I wonder how similar this is to camelions and actopi and cuttle fish…
  - HarHarVeryFunny 3y ago
    What's most interesting to me isn't just how this plant does it, but how such a capability evolved ... There has to have been other more primitive sensing/copying capabilities that evolved into this, but what are/were they, and what were the evolutionary benefits of those more primitive capabilities ? Are there any other plants still existing today that react to light in more than just a present/not-present or directional way ?
    - samstave 3y ago
      I have thought and talked about this so often with people. It is fascinating, such as the plants that mimic the shape of the birds that feed upon them - such as hummingbirds. But the genes are not spread leaf-to-leaf - its through the roots, and may even be communicated through mycelium highways in the root systems where the same mycelium org is symbiotic with both plants. I wonder what cultivating and formative impact "farming mycelium" might cause in an eco system. I wonder if the plant in question is able to decode genes that it receives via the Hyphae fungal network, and knows the genes for "aesthetic and functional appearance for survival here, based on the active genes from the successful plants around me>" and can just sideload those genes into its makeup. Does its offspring, or even clones - removed from that mimic'd env also continue to look like the mimic'd plant? -- I am pretty sure that the transfer of genes is from the horizontal gene transfer among "neighboring leaves" as it were - but perhaps among the root, as shared by mycelium (fungi) rhizal -- mycorrhizal root structure which shares nutrients between a plant and the fungus. >mycorrhizae, known as root fungi, form symbiotic associations with plant roots. In these associations, the fungi are actually integrated into the physical structure of the root. The fungi colonize the living root tissue during active plant growth. Through mycorrhization, the plant obtains phosphate and other minerals, such as zinc and copper, from the soil. The fungus obtains nutrients, such as sugars, from the plant root. Mycorrhizae help increase the surface area of the plant root system because hyphae, which are narrow, can spread beyond the nutrient depletion zone. <-- may lead to why the plants may seem far enough apart. https://i.imgur.com/s3Xv6TF.png https://i.imgur.com/s3Xv6TF.png https://i.imgur.com/PVn6grj.png https://i.imgur.com/PVn6grj.png https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/pdf/10.1094/MPMI-05-14-0129-FI https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/pdf/10.1094/MPMI-05-14-01... https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_and_General_Biology/Book%3A_General_Biology_%28Boundless%29/31%3A_Soil_and_Plant_Nutrition/31.03%3A__Nutritional_Adaptations_of_Plants/31.3B%3A_Mycorrhizae-_The_Symbiotic_Relationship_between_Fungi_and_Roots https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_and_Gene... -- Here is another video on these plants though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UWWsYw9fH0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UWWsYw9fH0 (this guy is talking about bacteria, but its fungi)
      - HarHarVeryFunny 3y ago
throwawaaarrgh 3y ago
Wouldn't need to be visual. Just requires some way of determining the placement of specific compounds. In most organisms this is by generic coding; your cells don't see a human standing next to your embryo and then decide to make you look like a human. If the plants aren't connected it could be inferred through other means, electromagnetic, auditory, maybe some plant cells move through the air.
- p1mrx 3y ago
  Those non-visual mechanisms do not apply to a plastic plant.
  - throwawaaarrgh 3y ago
    Actually they do, electromagnetism does in fact interact with non organic materials
    - p1mrx 3y ago
      You're suggesting an electromagnetic phenomenon other than visible light? I suppose that would be comparably interesting.
GuB-42 3y ago
Plants can obviously react to light. Photosynthesis, that's how they get their energy. Most plants seek light one way or the other. Assuming the plastic plant really turn out to have an effect, It would be possible, I think, for a plant to somehow sense shade patterns using photosensitive chemicals diffusing through the plant at specific speeds.

anotheryou 3y ago

last time I checked evidence for that seemed a bit inconclusive

m3kw9 3y ago

its cells could detect discrete levels of light to detect a shape

HarHarVeryFunny 3y ago

The phenomena is very interesting, but the article is useless. This is a very simple and telling experiment - if the plant can mimic a plastic plant then it rules out all sort of potential explanations, and would have to be based on light (but let's not go overboard and say it'd require "vision" or a brain). So, why haven't hundreds of university labs, or amateur plant lovers attempted to replicate or improve the experiment, and if they have why doesn't the article present the results?

samstave 3y ago
Put plants made from Lego next to it and see if it’s mimicking the physical surrounding as it senses the environment from the way the photons are hitting it. If the photons also carry the color of and it can sense the color of the photons, I wonder how similar this is to camelions and actopi and cuttle fish…
- HarHarVeryFunny 3y ago
  What's most interesting to me isn't just how this plant does it, but how such a capability evolved ... There has to have been other more primitive sensing/copying capabilities that evolved into this, but what are/were they, and what were the evolutionary benefits of those more primitive capabilities ? Are there any other plants still existing today that react to light in more than just a present/not-present or directional way ?
  - samstave 3y ago
    I have thought and talked about this so often with people. It is fascinating, such as the plants that mimic the shape of the birds that feed upon them - such as hummingbirds. But the genes are not spread leaf-to-leaf - its through the roots, and may even be communicated through mycelium highways in the root systems where the same mycelium org is symbiotic with both plants. I wonder what cultivating and formative impact "farming mycelium" might cause in an eco system. I wonder if the plant in question is able to decode genes that it receives via the Hyphae fungal network, and knows the genes for "aesthetic and functional appearance for survival here, based on the active genes from the successful plants around me>" and can just sideload those genes into its makeup. Does its offspring, or even clones - removed from that mimic'd env also continue to look like the mimic'd plant? -- I am pretty sure that the transfer of genes is from the horizontal gene transfer among "neighboring leaves" as it were - but perhaps among the root, as shared by mycelium (fungi) rhizal -- mycorrhizal root structure which shares nutrients between a plant and the fungus. >mycorrhizae, known as root fungi, form symbiotic associations with plant roots. In these associations, the fungi are actually integrated into the physical structure of the root. The fungi colonize the living root tissue during active plant growth. Through mycorrhization, the plant obtains phosphate and other minerals, such as zinc and copper, from the soil. The fungus obtains nutrients, such as sugars, from the plant root. Mycorrhizae help increase the surface area of the plant root system because hyphae, which are narrow, can spread beyond the nutrient depletion zone. <-- may lead to why the plants may seem far enough apart. https://i.imgur.com/s3Xv6TF.png https://i.imgur.com/s3Xv6TF.png https://i.imgur.com/PVn6grj.png https://i.imgur.com/PVn6grj.png https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/pdf/10.1094/MPMI-05-14-0129-FI https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/pdf/10.1094/MPMI-05-14-01... https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_and_General_Biology/Book%3A_General_Biology_%28Boundless%29/31%3A_Soil_and_Plant_Nutrition/31.03%3A__Nutritional_Adaptations_of_Plants/31.3B%3A_Mycorrhizae-_The_Symbiotic_Relationship_between_Fungi_and_Roots https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_and_Gene... -- Here is another video on these plants though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UWWsYw9fH0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UWWsYw9fH0 (this guy is talking about bacteria, but its fungi)
    - HarHarVeryFunny 3y ago

throwawaaarrgh 3y ago

Wouldn't need to be visual. Just requires some way of determining the placement of specific compounds. In most organisms this is by generic coding; your cells don't see a human standing next to your embryo and then decide to make you look like a human. If the plants aren't connected it could be inferred through other means, electromagnetic, auditory, maybe some plant cells move through the air.

p1mrx 3y ago
Those non-visual mechanisms do not apply to a plastic plant.
- throwawaaarrgh 3y ago
  Actually they do, electromagnetism does in fact interact with non organic materials
  - p1mrx 3y ago
    You're suggesting an electromagnetic phenomenon other than visible light? I suppose that would be comparably interesting.

GuB-42 3y ago

Plants can obviously react to light. Photosynthesis, that's how they get their energy. Most plants seek light one way or the other. Assuming the plastic plant really turn out to have an effect, It would be possible, I think, for a plant to somehow sense shade patterns using photosensitive chemicals diffusing through the plant at specific speeds.