this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2026
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the researchers recorded both healthy and stressed tomato and tobacco plants using microphones. They conducted experiments in a soundproof chamber and later in a greenhouse with background noise. The plants were stressed in two ways, by withholding water for several days and by cutting their stems. The team then trained a machine learning algorithm to distinguish between healthy plants, dehydrated plants, and cut plants.

audio is uploaded in the article

Source : https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-discover-plants-scream-we-just-couldnt-hear-them-until-now/

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[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 67 points 3 days ago (2 children)
[–] Damarus@feddit.org 20 points 3 days ago

Wow that's my favorite song

[–] trackball_fetish@lemmy.wtf 7 points 3 days ago

Yoko Ono presents: plant jams #2

They pop and snap, calling that "screaming" is a bit sensationalist.

This is the kind of headline that hearkens the anti-vegetarians to claim nonsense arguments. "Plants scream when you cut them, so that means you're a hypocrite because you're hurting plants. Just look at this paper that says so!"

[–] username_1@programming.dev 38 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I bet that wet brick sounds in a different way than a dry one.

[–] starik@lemmy.zip 17 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

You mean dry bricks scream in agony!

[–] some_designer_dude@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

So YOU mean the wet bricks scream with … pleasure?

[–] TheReanuKeeves@lemmy.world 29 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I recall in college about 14 years ago we spoke about the electric impulses in plants and how they change in reaction to stress

[–] whaleross@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago

I was thinking about pop science headlines in the nineties, maybe even earlier.

[–] DishaweslemOride@lemmy.org 17 points 3 days ago (2 children)
[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 3 days ago

"in not vegetarian because I love animals. I'm vegetarian because I hate plants"

[–] stickyprimer@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

“The salad is screaming” has been a notion for decades.

Also, the Jains have entered the chat.

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago (3 children)

I thought they found this over a decade ago?

[–] village604@adultswim.fan 12 points 3 days ago

Research has to be repeatable

[–] dbtng@eviltoast.org 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I think the thing from a decade ago was about them emitting chemical messages through transpiration. Nova did a piece where transpiration and the fungal network in the soil were reconsidered as a whole communication system. I recall it was popularized using the same "scream" terminology in pop-sci rags.

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Nah, it was the same thing, just 8 years ago I guess. This is an article from after I must have caught the paper: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-record-stressed-out-plants-emitting-ultrasonic-squeals-180973716/

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 0 points 3 days ago

Now it's reproducible bullshit.

[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Now I want to hook up a mic to my succulents and run a local ML model on a raspberry pi to water it.

[–] InvalidName2@lemmy.zip 18 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Don't water your Raspberry Pi.

[–] No_Eponym@lemmy.ca 7 points 3 days ago

Yeah, you're supposed to bake pie

[–] GreyEyedGhost@piefed.ca 5 points 3 days ago

They, too, are aware of the state of the world.

[–] MunkyNutts@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] dbtng@eviltoast.org 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Unfortunately, Mark passed away. One of the best. Ever. I saw him in Olympia a year or so before he died. Great show, but the man was nearly blind and looked pretty exhausted at the end. He hung out in the lobby signing stuff, must have talked to a hundred fans.

[–] Rivermoonwolf@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

Finally, a reason to consider vegetarianism

[–] 69420@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOFVXckEiQs&t=1071

[–] TryingToBeGood@reddthat.com 5 points 3 days ago (2 children)
[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 days ago

Except then it was without machine learning.

[–] Doomsider@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

Decades old.

[–] DiarrheaSommelier@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 days ago

They discovered this in the 70's. Lyall Watson's Supernature documented plant reactions, even when cutting a leaf taken from the plant. It may not have been the most rigorous science, I don't know. But it did encourage thinking outside the box for ways to attempt to learn about the natural world.

[–] SalmiakDragon@feddit.nu 1 points 3 days ago

Sounds like popping bubble wrap, or popcorn.

[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago

Checkmate, vegans