Dissin all purposes. Plants are not just useful they make life on earth possible. We enjoy their p. C. And try to replicate their amazing abilities on this show we journey into the fascinating world of green and growing things coming up. Can chance lead a researcher set up an experiment to try and find out. Why does the plants next to attract specific on innate has to a fades have to do with it. We look at what plan for searches are doing to prepare for the consequences of Climate Change welcome to the show. Recognising yourself in the mirror painting it all using terms like crow steve for example. Humans are the only species that possess intelligence the researchers have also observed the traits in other animals. And the signs of the brain apparently plays no role in intelligent behavior. But what about organisms that dont have brains like plants. Biologist catch a tear burger is testing whether the pavlovian theory of learning works on plants the same way it does with animals the russian physiologist showed that dogs can quickly be conditioned to associate a ringing bell with food before long the sound alone causes the dog to start salivating thats because its learned the bell equals food. So does the same hold true for plants. And if so what stimuli do they respond to. Mimosa plants respond to contacts by folding up their leaves in an experiment placed the mimosa in the dark after a while she then switched the light on which through no response then she started to jab the leaves which immediately closed up. She repeated this process again and again light on and then jam. Then she switched the light on but left the leaves alone and they folded up straight away anyhow it would appear the plant have learned to associate light with physical damage and the response remained long after the experiment was stopped. But biologists still cant agree on whether this constitutes the ability to learn. Even mit so much but humans i find it annoying when someone tells me i cant cool this form of pavlovian learning real learning because theres a set definition and it applies here and. Another experiment do plants make decisions for example when competing for access to daylight here a plant called creeping sink foil has been surrounded by strips of colored plastic. Like leaves these only allow certain kinds of light through this allows the scientists to simulate various scenarios to plant and this pot for example been effectively surrounded by low growing competitors this one on the other hand mimics a scenario where the plant is in shade cast by much taller growth and here the surrounding growth isnt just high but also very close to the plant in each case the scientists monitor how the creeping sink foil responds. When surrounded by low growth it shoots up when neighboring plants were high it tended to spread horizontally. When hemmed in closely on all sides the creeping thing foil didnt grow much in size at all but it did develop significantly larger leaves in each case it appears to be choosing the most effective option for its situation or is what its doing little more than an automatic response from estonia its astounding that the plants are able to react with such different responses do i clear up high or wide or developed knowledge at least at a physiological level these are very different responses she has. It makes sense that plants would be equipped with light receptors that allow them to respond to light. But the scientists are still arent exactly sure how the plant processes this information and then decides on a certain course of action all without a brain or a nervous system. In the german city of you know plant physiologists or working together with electro physiologists to study Health Plants process and pass on information we know for example that chemical signals are transmitted to other parts of the plant when its attacked or damaged. Signals and plants can also be electrical when a particular stimulus reaches a certain threshold it can trigger whats known as an action potential. And bang theres a reaction. To suffer. Mentally its comparable to what happens in human cells if there are certain types of electrical signals that so far ive only been found in plants are flunking the warden. Scientists call these other signals system potentials theyve observed how an impulse triggers changes and the voltage at the cell membrane in simple terms the positive charge outside the cell increases but instead of the membrane reacting with a sudden discharge when stimulated as happens with an action potential the increased voltage is passed on systemically from cell to cell from the leaf to leaf. The scientists believe that plant system potentials not only pass on all or nothing impulses but can also convey more detailed information to the organism. But the experts dont yet know exactly how that happens they assume communication inside the plant happens through a combination of chemical and electrical signals but identifying the involved proteins receptors and molecular structures is a lengthy process so back to the original question do plants have something that could be described as intelligence while the Scientists Say they certainly display economic rationality they move or grow towards what they need of the im the minister for you could say ok the plant is growing more towards where the nutrients are teligent to begin but if after growing a little bit in that direction or work to say no thats boring im going to try the other side in the middle even if its not smart that would indicate a form of intelligence or games because that wasnt a rational decision of plants usually do rational things perfectly. But wouldnt that actually be creativity. While the discussion over the right definitions continues the scientists are united in one thing their admiration for plants must be a list they can do so much theyre masters of chemistry masters or defense i think. The more i work with plants the more fascinated i am by what they can do you spend. Plants function in some ways just like us but other things they do very differently with Great Success and understanding how they work is proving to be a challenge to our intelligence. The plant world is far from boring and its still hard as many mysteries researchers in germany have looked at how council distributed in different ecosystems they are of course fall pure plants at the poles or in deserts than in the humid warmth of the tropical rain forest it has the highest levels of species density and diversity on the planet. To glacier bassett likes a less crowded environment it grows that of a full 1000 beaches in the alps a record for plants that here are a few more. That. All plants seek out lives. Unknown with more determination down a species of bamboo nation to china and japan. Our. Stock growth has been recorded up to 1. 21 majors in a single day. New shoots can reach heights of up to 25 meters in 3 weeks. That makes springing up like mushrooms look pretty lame in comparison. The worlds tallest tree is the hyperion coastal redwood named after the titan god of heaven the lights in greek mythology come. Over 115 meters tall it warps even the statue of liberty. The widest tree in the world can be found in mexico and that the none of the studs montezuma cypress is thousands of years old. And i know that the nonetheless. Its transposed the diameter of 14 majors on a circumference of 46 meters and its a stately 40 meters tall. The touch on air on is a plant with the largest flowers in the world. Over 3 metres in height. The bloom is renowned not only for its height but also for its overpowering foul odor. Dunder of the plants that only come into their own underground so take the right plants above ground its nothing some measure. System can total up to 80 kilometers in length. A record depth reached by a trees roots belongs to a wild fig tree in south africa that penetrated down to 120 meters before it finally hit water. All the figures mentioned in the bible matusow lived the longest it was said to have died at the age of 969 Spring Chicken compared to some of earths plants. A great basin bristlecone pine in california named after the patriarch as long as lived over 4800 years old but to salute the oldest tree in the world. Even if it doesnt look at this spruce and sweden is by some measures older than methuselah the visible trunk of old chico is a fairly young the successor to many others that have sprouted from an ancient roots are still d. N. A. Analysis has shown that its over 9 and a half 1000 years old although the latest trunk began to emerge just a few centuries ago. In the run up to the show this week we asked you on facebook about what plants were important to you and why. Sebastien loves the eucalyptus tree because it has medicinal uses and its leaves make it look majestic. Fernando responded that its too bad it dries out the soil and the oil in its leaves can lead to wildfires. Best in reply that when theyre planted the trees are usually well spaced at least where he lives. The people out on the other hand is a big fan of comic minutes because the healthy and motivating. Time limit is a fan of the jungle great says hype local because its great for pollinators and because its vines block out the view of the riffraff next door which. To me from. I thinks every plant is important and can be used in various ways he says plants play an Important Role as the earths lungs because they emit oxygen and help prevent Global Warming thanks to all those comments keep them coming. To life giving element oxygen that we mentions as released when plants photosynthesize everywhere from honduras had a question about that. Why cant we replicate photosynthesis in the lab harnessing the energy of the sun the plants have developed the process of photosynthesis over millions of years they use light to trigger a cellular reaction converting Carbon Dioxide and water into carbohydrates these carbohydrates Service Energy carriers and Building Blocks for the growth of the plant scientists are now trying to follow plants example and you see oh to water and light to make fuel photosynthesis could be the solution to our energy problems. And it would be a way of preventing a further rise of the Greenhouse Gases c o 2 in the atmosphere. Thats why researchers have been studying the phenomenon in these for example thanks to special microstructure theyre very efficient photosynthesize is if the ability could be transferred to more useful plants yields could be increased enormously. Experts have been tinkering with photosynthesis in the lab for decades. Now new methods are extremely precise genetic modification are opening new horizons in the search for alternatives to fossil fuel. Providing fresh momentum for the development of Clean Sustainable Energy source its. The problem is red white are great but only if you have it do you have a science question that youve always wanted answered. Were happy to help out yes send it to us as a video text ovoid smell if we answer it on the show well send you a little surprise as a thank you can i just ask. Do you find as i did of you dot com slash science or drop us a line at d w underscore site tech on facebook d w dot science. Time to turn now to the myriad helpless plants rely on for their reproduction and are drawn by sense and color pollinators like bees carry the pollen from one flower to the stigma of another. 75 percent of our crops from pears to pumpkins rely on pollinators to play a role in reproduction in fact of all flowering plants nearly 90 percent make use of the service they provide. The problem now is that insect diversity is under serious threat some crop plants like rice a wheat get by just fine without pollinators but nearly all nutrient heavy fruit and vegetable species actually depend on them so insects are key to ensuring our own food supply maybe its time to find out if plants can learn a few new tricks to attract more and different kinds of pollinators d d. Beanies know exactly what they like but what they get depends on the plants they use their nectar to determine which insects can pollinate and which cant. One day that could change thanks to the work of god whod low house at the university or book. Shes an expert on flow im sat up this is the life blood of the plant that nectar is derived from it. The biologist wants know exactly how and under what conditions this mixture of sugar and amino acids is distributed throughout the plant its the flu and sap that determines what nectar tastes like and ultimately which insects it attracts that plays a key role in plant reproduction. But harvesting the sap isnt easy the biologist needs help and shes getting it from a feds that she finds on the plane and theres none there. None there either. But then she finds one thats not hard to catch and i thought. Im climbing i just need a small container underbrush. And then i very gently brushed the a fit into the container. So i just wrote the main one by one. The a fed grows a little agitated and with good reason low house gives it a new leaf to feed on and then places the whole thing under the microscope the composition of flow and sap changes depending on the location and the leaf to find out more the biologist wants to capture a live image of whats happening in the leaf cells but she 1st needs to know which of them currently contain sugar crushing the leaves to find out isnt an option. If i were to squeeze the leaf out id have 99 percent other cells less than one percent of the cells will be the ones im interested in so thats no help. So this is where the if it can help somehow it knows which cells contain the south and this knowledge is its do. The microscope is equipped with a laser as soon as the a fed has inserted its provide as and began extracting the sap from the cell gertrude low House Presses a button and slices the appendage off. Using a tiny capillary tube the biologist then extracts the south which is the basis for the nectar the plant produces. That have been there in many different pollinators fly even bats all birds and the question is a fundamental one what ends up visiting the flower. And what enzyme options does a plant have or need to produce one kind of nectar or another to attract a particular pollinator. And as scientists could manipulate the plants flow and sat up they could make the flowers attractive for a wider range of pollinators helping the plant adapt to changing environmental conditions brought about by Climate Change and that could contribute to preserving plant diversity benefiting both humans and insects including generations of a for its to calm. In an era of Climate Change and ability to adapt can prove the difference between survival and extinction the last 5 years with the hottest ever measured according to an analysis released by the agency that tracks atmospheric data in the us that means tough times ahead for the agriculture industry about 2 thirds of the worlds total food output comes from just 9 species of plants so its essential to create the right hes able to cope with the changing climate and. How all this week planned route behave under conditions of heat stress what will it look like after 69 or 12 days if the plan gets too little water Robert Kohler at the unity Research Center can see what happens early on with a kind of m. R. I. For plants before the heart to better have even before the leaves start to droop we already know that this plant is showing your reaction and its metabolism although its not yet visible to the naked eye and also we can take action that come with. The high tech equipment is being used to study crop plants the aim is to find a way to defy Climate Change the researchers are focusing on the impact of stress on group growth. These areas with the warmer colors like red exhibit more root growth will be the areas where the colors are colder more blue there isnt as much room for growth. Of. The devices used in radiology make it possible to screen wheat corn or sugar beets without harming them. d the plants can be studied as they grow in minute structural detail all the stored information on a particular plant is assigned a barcode. Into the backcourt in the hardest part code is an entire database the database contains extremely important. But enable us to draw certain conclusions we know how heavy the seas was for example or how the plant was handled. In france also because thats. The process begins with a seed this machine measures it precisely weighs it and records the findings the ultimate aim is to identify useful characteristics that will help optimize crop cultivation. To try to make suggestions so we can say look on so weve identified a characteristic that helps make the plants drug resistant and for example its roots my grow very fast or very slowly thats a factor that should be taken into account by researchers aiming to adopt plans to Climate Change flexible hide and photosynthesis rates are a good indicator of a plants Overall Health the Imaging System detects fluorescents a method from chlorophyll if the leaf appears red on the screen it means the rate of photosynthesis is poor and the plant is struggling to grow. From some coming off by plants close their stock market to limit water of operations from their leaves are. If we observe as an early stage mother plant is closing its tomato so we can do something about it. We could water it for example. Norman is also a member of the Research Team he hopes that one day hell be able to measure photosynthesis from above for the time being the equipment is too heavy for drones to carry but they can still provide useful information for farmers. Who worked on the ground measuring the crops with a yard stick it would be very time consuming a few whereas if you use a drone its done in minutes leading. The drone also gathers useful data from this trial field where future conditions are being simulated on the field seats that formed in different years at different locations are being sprayed with c o 2 around the clock according to forecasts without action atmospheric concentrations of the Greenhouse Gases are expected to double by 2050. Its hopes the research will benefit farmers like they claim a schillings Climate Change is putting them under intense pressure. Here trying to develop a system to drought resistant variety wont be any good to us if we have an unusually wet year it could prove completely useless what we need are varieties that can adapt to changing clim