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Plants

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The question of whether or not plants can communicate is one that can in fact be answered by science: plants communicate through one of four volatile organic compounds: fatty acid derivatives, phenylpropanoids or benzenoids, amino acid derivatives and terpenoids. Robert Freitas, a nanotechnology scientist, first introduced the concept of hormonal sentience, which is used, for example, by acacia trees to communicate to one another that they are being attacked by a herbivore by releasing a deadly amount of tannins (a carbon-based compound that taste bitter (think of wine and coffee) that interfere with many herbivore's digestive enzymes), the scent of which is picked up by other acacias in the original tree's vicinity, which then triggers the same tannin production in the surrounding trees.

Peter Wohlleben has done a lifetime's worth of research regarding the fungal networks beneath the ground: according to him, trees in forests can and do share water and nutrients, and use these networks (affectionately referred to as "wood-wide-web" but scientifically referred to as mycorrhizal networks) to communicate warnings regarding disease, drought, and herbivory, which are heeded by the other members of this network. The thin root tips of trees interlock with fungus filaments to exchange sugar photosynthesized by the trees in exchange for this communication between trees of necessary rituals to be undertaken to further Ultimate Perfection.

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  1. Knowledge & Communication Sam Henrickson

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