Should plants be given rights? What new botanical breakthroughs could mean
They can communicate with each other about threats, summon help from predatory killers – and some can even count – but does this mean plants are conscious?
Last month, at a gathering at New York University, a group of prominent biologists and philosophers widened the perimeter of a very exclusive club. They declared that there is “a realistic possibility” that insects, crustaceans and fish experience consciousness. This was an expansion of an earlier declaration, made in 2012, in which researchers asserted that mammals and birds were capable of intentional behaviour and had all the physical markers of conscious states: “Consequently, the weight of evidence indicates that humans are not unique in possessing the neurological substrates that generate consciousness,” they concluded. The official consciousness list – or “realistic possibility of consciousness” list – now includes “all vertebrates (including all reptiles, amphibians and fishes) and many invertebrates (including, at minimum, cephalopod mollusks, decapod crustaceans and insects)”.
Lizards have been shown to learn how to navigate mazes, suggesting behavioural flexibility, an often-used marker of intelligence. Bees are able to distinguish between styles of art; engage in play; and perform an elaborate, symbolically rich “waggle dance” that tells their hive mates precisely how far and at what angle to the sun to fly to find food. Scientists suggest bees may have the capacity to feel, perhaps denoting consciousness.
Continue reading...Date: |
Topics
Filter
More from The Guardian
-
Supplies arrive in Gaza via new pier but land routes essential, says US aid chief
Samantha Power says barely 100 trucks of aid a day enter Gaza, far less than 600 needed to address threat of famine. Humanitarian assistance has begun to arrive in Gaza along a US-made pier, but the US aid chief said the new sea corridor could ...The Guardian - World -
Video shows Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs assaulting singer Cassie in 2016
Hotel surveillance cameras at InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles captured incident Combs had vehemently denied. A newly released video shows Sean “Diddy” Combs manhandling and kicking singer Cassie Ventura – his former girlfriend – in plain ...The Guardian - World -
The quiet Japanese island paradise on the frontline of growing Taiwan-China tensions
Yonaguni is a tourist hotspot – but its location just 100km from Taiwan means residents must wrestle with the creeping militarisation of their home. In the minds of many Japanese people, Yonaguni is a sleepy paradise of crystal-clear sea and ...The Guardian - World - China -
Ukraine war briefing: Russia’s Kharkiv offensive may only be the ‘first wave’, Zelenskiy warns
Ukrainian president admits his army lacks enough troops and has only 25% of the air defences it needs as Russia advances in the north-east. What we know on day 815. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has warned that Russia’s offensive in ...The Guardian - World - Ukraine -
‘Magic David called’: David Copperfield repeatedly contacted Jeffrey Epstein
Phone messages and meetings suggest a friendship between Copperfield and the disgraced financier. His lawyers deny it. The message pads appear a little faded, but the handwriting on the spiral-bound notebooks is clear enough.. Staff at Jeffrey ...The Guardian - World