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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsScientists Discover That Trees Have A "Heartbeat"
There is a huge number of living things on Earth, all with their own set of characteristics and unique ways of life. All the way from the smallest ants, up to the huge giraffes and elephants, one thing that everyone has in common is that they are alive! One type of living organism is plants and trees. While they may not walk around like other organisms, or have a kidney and liver, they do actually have their own set of organs, so to speak.
The Secret Heartbeat
While a tree definitely doesn't have a heart, the idea that they have their own beat and sense of rhythm isn't as far fetched as many people think. According to a study which was headed by András Zlinszky, Bence Molnár and Anders S. Barfod from Hungary and Denmark, trees do in fact have a special type of beat within them which resembles that of a heartbeat. Who would have known?
To find this hidden heartbeat, the researchers used advanced monitoring techniques known as terrestrial laser scanning to survey the movement of twenty two different types of trees. The results shocked everyone and revealed that at night, while the trees were sleeping, they often had a beat pulsating throughout their body, just as humans, and other living creatures do too.
What is it?
While these pulses aren't an actual heart beating, it does effectively do the same job in keeping rhythm and pumping liquids around the organism. The pulses which the scientists discovered are actually the tree pumping and distributing water around its body, just as a heart pumps blood. It has long been assumed that trees distribute water via osmosis but this new find says otherwise. This could change the way humans see and understand trees forever, so many things could change now. The heartbeats themselves were quite slow and steady, with some occurring every few hours. Even so, it's an amazing find that proves nature is far more complex than anyone could have ever imagined. Cont
https://www.disclose.tv/scientists-discover-that-trees-have-a-heartbeat-373263
stopbush
(24,378 posts)Er, shouldnt it be There are a huge number?
Mariana
(14,849 posts)stopbush
(24,378 posts)Here are some sentences with identical structure:
There is a huge flock of birds.
There is a huge bouquet of roses.
There is a huge box of crackers.
There is a huge number of things.
Bernardo de La Paz
(48,789 posts)Blue_true
(31,261 posts)Thekaspervote
(32,606 posts)Me.
(35,454 posts)JoeOtterbein
(7,698 posts)I cried. And then again many times since.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)I read a lovely story a year or so ago that was both sad and inspiring.
A couple had a daughter who was about three or four years old. In their yard they had a tree that they became concerned about, so they called a person who determined that the tree had died and needed to be cut down. So the couple hired a company to cut the tree down. When the men started sawing into the tree, the little girl freaked out and tried to prevent the men from cutting the tree down, her mom had to take her away from the house. The men finished the job and left with the sawed up tree. The parents noticed that the girl seemed to have become depressed and they realized that somehow she had become deeply attached to the tree, they had seen her at the tree a lot, but they thought nothing of that. At any rate, the guy who owned the tree removal company recognized what had happened, so he took part of the tree to a woodworking shop and had a gift made for the little girl, he presented the gift to the girl with her parents and explained that it was part of the tree that had stood in their yard. After the gift the girl became happy and made to gift her most cherished possession. It was actually a real and touching story that was ultimately recounted by the girls mom.
I know when I was a boy, we had a mulberry tree in out yard. It produced delicious mulberries during the summer, but year round I did stuff under that tree, my first garden was made near it. Even after I went off to college, when I came home, I would nap and relax under that tree. At some point after I had left home for good, the tree got taken down during work around my parent's house. Even today, I know exactly where that tree stood and retain a mental image of what it looked like.
JoeOtterbein
(7,698 posts)I'm still sad about cutting down the sick tree that my daughter Kim and I planted when she was about 6. So many years under that tree.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)days in it's awesome shade.
Me.
(35,454 posts)fierywoman
(7,641 posts)When they walk through a forest to find wood for a string instrument, they knock on the trees. The ones that "sing" a certain way are the ones they choose for their instruments.
Me.
(35,454 posts)The things we humans don't know!
fierywoman
(7,641 posts)making me a viola, and he told me. Then I heard/read about it from other sources!
Me.
(35,454 posts)fierywoman
(7,641 posts)CentralMass
(15,265 posts)fierywoman
(7,641 posts)ecstatic
(32,567 posts)Ilsa
(61,675 posts)VOX
(22,976 posts)Now, theres an another good reason for doing just that.
Books_Tea_Alone
(253 posts)It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction this year. It is an amazing book about this very topic and will make you think differently about trees and forests permanently. Beautifully written story by Richard Powers.
jcgoldie
(11,584 posts)I knew those trees were up to some shit when I was asleep. Next we'll find out about the tree nightclubs and dance parties!
Mike 03
(16,616 posts)provide sustenance and "wisdom" to their offspring trees. This is fascinating but utterly devastating to fully accept how many things we harm without thinking that much about.
Me.
(35,454 posts)Like when they returned wolves to Yellowstone, the entire ecology was completely transformed. I read the earth could get along just fine and I believe it.
elocs
(22,474 posts)Imagine the changes that have occurred around it during its lifetime and then it ends with a final shudder as it hits the ground.
I spend more than a couple of hundred dollars every other year to keep my ash tree from being killed by the emerald ash borer and it is doing great. It is money that is dear to me, but it's worth it.
Me.
(35,454 posts)sagetea
(1,363 posts)but, it doesn't surprise me!!! I do know that when you hug a tree then go and hug another one, you can feel a difference.
sage