Curiosity
Plants do Math: New Study Says Plans Can Divide Resources
can Plants do Math? New Study Says They Can
Researchers recently published a study in eLife, a scientific journal, showing proof that plants use math to divvy up their resources, which keeps them alive through the night.
Plants were found to use arithmetic in an effort to calculate how long their internal stock of starch would last. Once calculated, the metabolism rate is adjusted, providing for a steady stream of life giving nutrients throughout the sunless night.
Britain’s John Innes Centre (JIC) housed the study, with scientists there discovering the previously unknown information.
It was found that plants regulate their growth, etc, by use of an internal clock, in much the same way that humans do. The leaves are able to take measurements of the levels of starch held within the plant, allowing for the mathematical calculations which the plant uses to adjust its overnight consumption.
Learning this vital new information about plants’ abilities to sustain themselves through the night, despite a complete lack of sun, is already pushing some researchers to contemplate the possibilities for humanity.
Alison Smith, who is a metabolic biologist at JIC, has said, “Understanding how plants continue to grow in the dark could help unlock new ways to boost crop yield.”
“This is the first concrete example in a fundamental biological process of such a sophisticated arithmetic calculation,” mathematical modeler Martin Howard of John Innes Centre (JIC) said.
The study has not only provided some exciting new information in the field of biology, but it could also have a great impact on the world.
On The Web:
Plants ‘Do Math’ To Ensure Steady Food Supply, New Research Shows
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/23/plants-math-food-arithmetic-calculations-_n_3484953.html
Square roots? Scientists say plants are good at math
http://news.yahoo.com/square-roots-scientists-plants-good-math-040924317.html
