THE LIGHT EATERS

teeming with fascinating and enlightening insights ObserverA narrative investigation into the new science of plant intelligence and sentience from National Association of Science Writers Award winner and Livingston Award finalist Zoe Schlanger Look at the green organism across the room or through the window the potted plant or the grass or a tree Think how a life spent constantly growing yet rooted in a single spot comes with tremendous challenges To meet them plants have come up with some of the most creative methods for surviving of any living thing us included Many are so ingenious that they seem nearly impossible Did you know plants can communicate when they are being eaten allowing nearby plants to bolster their defences They move and that movement stops when they are anaesthetised They also use electricity for internal communication They can hear the sounds of caterpillars eating Plants can remember the last time they have been visited by a bee and how many times they have been visited so they have a concept of time and can count Plants can not only communicate with each other they can also communicate with other species of plants and animals allowing them to manipulate animals to defend or fertilise them So look again at the potted plant or