I remember several years back hearing of a study done on plants, where some sort of electro-detection machine (sorry for my vagueness, for I was in middle school at the time and had bigger things to worry about than the exact method of this test) was used to check for any sign of fear in plants.
Then, one girl in the class was selected to kill one of the plants sitting in a group of them. After that, the class was lined up to parade by the row of surviving plants, and there was a spike in the meter of the plants when the girl who killed the one plant marched near. Supposedly, this was to find if plants could fear death, or something of the like.
Has any one else heard of this experiment? Would anyone know the name to it? Or where I could find the details of it?
Thank you for your time.
2006-11-23 08:58:57 · 6 answers · asked by anything_but_this_again 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Botany
It was experiment about Primary Perception in Plant Life (a.k.a. the Backster effect). Dr. Cleve backster tested his plants on a polygraph machine and found that plants react to thoughts and threats. Check out the source link.☺
2006-11-23 09:23:34 · answer #1 · answered by ♥ lani s 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
They actually debunked this on Mythbusters.
Go look up the show. What they determined is that yes, there were reactions, but not from the plant. They were reactions were all based off of sound waves, air, temperature adjustments, and heat given off by the person inflicting the pain.
Plants react. They are geotrophic, heliotrophic, chemotrophic, phototrophic and a lot of other tropics. They don't have a neuro net, they cannot feel pain. They react based on chemical and physical changes in their environment. Even if infected with a disease, they set their cells around the diseased part to auto-kill and then send out a primative antibiotic to the rest of the cell. They also react to the sun and to animals by releasing chemicals....no botanist of any right mind will tell you they 'feel'.
2006-11-23 11:29:34 · answer #2 · answered by Thera 9 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I believe you mean the experiments conducted by Cleve Backster. He used a polygraph machine in his experiments to show that plants have what he calls "primary perception." He is a controversial figure and you can read more about him at the source below.
2006-11-23 09:10:10 · answer #3 · answered by Russ C 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
plants feel! they feel everything that happens in the ecosystem around them since they are mostly connect to each other via fungal association in the soil!
2006-11-23 10:08:39 · answer #4 · answered by qncyguy21 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Plants do feel and they grow towards the sun...VENUS FLY TRAP.
2006-11-23 09:04:39 · answer #5 · answered by spir_i_tual 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Yes I have.
Don't remember.
Google it.
2006-11-23 11:30:24 · answer #6 · answered by producer_vortex 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋