{"id":630555,"date":"2026-04-26T21:18:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T21:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/630555\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T21:18:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T21:18:14","slug":"scientists-discover-plants-scream-we-just-couldnt-hear-them-until-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/630555\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists Discover Plants \u201cScream\u201d \u2013 We Just Couldn\u2019t Hear Them Until Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Gardening<\/a>New research suggests that plants under stress release ultrasonic sounds that can travel through the air, potentially carrying information about their condition. Credit: Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Scientists have discovered that many plants emit faint ultrasonic clicks when distressed.<\/p>\n

It sounds like something out of a dark children\u2019s story. Hurt a plant, and it \u201cscreams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not in a way humans can hear, but in a newly documented study, stressed plants were found to release bursts of ultrasonic sound that resemble faint pops or clicks, similar to bubble wrap snapping. These signals, described in the journal Cell, are produced by tomato and tobacco plants when they are dehydrated or physically damaged.<\/p>\n

The sounds are as loud as a normal conversation, around 60 to 65 decibels (about 60 to 65 decibels), but they occur at frequencies far beyond human hearing. That means the world around us may be filled with plant noise that goes completely unnoticed.<\/p>\n

\"Cactus<\/a>Cactus plant with microphones. Credit: Tel Aviv UniversityHidden Sounds in a Silent World<\/p>\n

\u201cEven in a quiet field, there are actually sounds that we don\u2019t hear, and those sounds carry information,\u201d says senior author Lilach Hadany, an evolutionary biologist and theoretician at Tel Aviv University. \u201cThere are animals that can hear these sounds, so there is the possibility that a lot of acoustic interaction is occurring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scientists have previously detected ultrasonic vibrations in plants, but this study is the first to show that the sounds travel through the air. This makes them more relevant to other organisms in the environment. \u201cPlants interact with insects and other animals all the time, and many of these organisms use sound for communication, so it would be very suboptimal for plants to not use sound at all,\u201d says Hadany.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/scitechdaily.com\/images\/Plant-Sounds.mp3<\/a><\/p>\n

This is an audio recording of plant sounds. The frequency was lowered so that it is audible to human ears. Credit: Khait et al.<\/p>\n

To investigate, 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.<\/p>\n

Distinct Signals From Distress<\/p>\n

The results showed that stressed plants produced far more sounds than healthy ones. These noises come across as clicks or pops, with a single stressed plant emitting about 30 to 50 sounds per hour at irregular intervals. In contrast, healthy plants were mostly silent. \u201cWhen tomatoes are not stressed at all, they are very quiet,\u201d Hadany says.<\/p>\n

Plants experiencing water stress began making sounds before showing visible signs of dehydration. The number of sounds peaked after about five days without water, then declined as the plants became fully dried out. The type of sound also varied depending on the cause of stress. The machine learning system successfully distinguished between dehydration and physical damage and could even identify whether the sounds came from tomato or tobacco plants.<\/p>\n

\"Tomato<\/a>This is a photo of three tomato plants whose sounds are being recorded in a greenhouse. Credit: Ohad Lewin-Epstein<\/p>\n

Although the study focused on tomato and tobacco plants because they are easy to grow under controlled conditions, the researchers also tested other species. \u201cWe found that many plants, corn, wheat, grape, and cactus plants, for example, emit sounds when they are stressed,\u201d says Hadany.<\/p>\n

The exact cause of these sounds is still uncertain. The researchers suggest they may result from cavitation, a process in which air bubbles form and burst inside the plant\u2019s vascular system.<\/p>\n

Communication or Byproduct?<\/p>\n

It is also unclear whether plants produce these sounds deliberately to communicate. However, their existence could have important ecological and evolutionary consequences. \u201cIt\u2019s possible that other organisms could have evolved to hear and respond to these sounds,\u201d says Hadany. \u201cFor example, a moth that intends to lay eggs on a plant or an animal that intends to eat a plant could use the sounds to help guide their decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dehydrated<\/a>This is an illustration of a dehydrated tomato plant being recorded using a microphone. Credit: Liana Wait<\/p>\n

Other plants might also detect and respond to these signals. Previous studies show that plants react to sound and vibration. Hadany and her colleagues have found that plants increase sugar levels in their nectar when they \u201chear\u201d pollinators, and other research shows that sound can alter plant gene expression. \u201cIf other plants have information about stress before it actually occurs, they could prepare,\u201d says Hadany.<\/p>\n

These findings could have practical uses in agriculture. Monitoring plant sounds might help farmers track crop hydration levels and improve irrigation efficiency.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that there\u2019s a lot of ultrasound out there, every time you use a microphone, you find that a lot of stuff produces sounds that we humans cannot hear, but the fact that plants are making these sounds opens a whole new avenue of opportunities for communication, eavesdropping, and exploitation of these sounds,\u201d says co-senior author Yossi Yovel, a neuro-ecologist at Tel Aviv University.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo now that we know that plants do emit sounds, the next question is, \u2018who might be listening?\u2019\u201d says Hadany. \u201cWe are currently investigating the responses of other organisms, both animals and plants, to these sounds, and we\u2019re also exploring our ability to identify and interpret the sounds in completely natural environments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reference: \u201cSounds emitted by plants under stress are airborne and informative\u201d by Itzhak Khait, Ohad Lewin-Epstein, Raz Sharon, Kfir Saban, Revital Goldstein, Yehuda Anikster, Yarden Zeron, Chen Agassy, Shaked Nizan, Gayl Sharabi, Ran Perelman, Arjan Boonman, Nir Sade, Yossi Yovel and Lilach Hadany, 30 March 2023, Cell.
DOI: 10.1016\/j.cell.2023.03.009<\/a><\/p>\n

This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation Bikura Fund, the Manna Center Program for Food Safety and Security fellowships, and the Clore Foundation Scholars Programme.<\/p>\n

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