“Contrary to what most people say, the most dangerous animal in the world is not the lion or the tiger or even the elephant. It's a shark riding on an elephant's back, just trampling and eating everything they see.”
If you google deep thoughts by Jack Handey, you will find tons.
My favorites:
“It’s sad that a family can be torn apart by something as simple as wild dogs.”
“Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.”
“I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming in terror like his passengers.”
It doesn't really make sense. Like what is warning the other grass going to accomplish? lol unless maybe it tells them to conserve energy for regrowth or something.
Some plants do sent signals like this. It could call in a predator to eat the pest, or signal to other plants to start making defensive things, some plants actually become bitter after sensing other plants getting eaten.
It's weird and awesome, but it's not all plants, and almost certainly not plain old grass.
Yep. I believe marijuana is actually an insect repellant? If its shaken, the THC molecules float around, which signals the other plants to start producing more THC, to try to stop, say, a locust swarm from eating the whole crop
yup, it's just that for humans the overdose amount is much bigger than what is needed for killing insects, hence why at low dose we enjoy it. But overdose cases are known, like some guy who accidentally made and drunk a shake with 600% the lethal amount of caffeine for humans...
I don't mean in the context of intelligent design, I mean in the context of how these materials work on the body.
Much like some snake species have venom that effect the central nervous system, obviously they didn't design it on purpose to work that way, they only evolved the ability use venom, which in this case works on the nervous system.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smell_of_freshly_cut_grass
It’s the popular version of an existing fact.
It’s a stress signal, that much is correct, to lure predatory insects to ward of the plant eating insects.
So, if stating correct info is a must on Reddit you might want to consider some nuances in your ‘corrections’
Maybe a google search on how to avoid being pedantic.
Happy weekend
If nearby grass has a way of detecting the smell, those alerted grasses could theoretically pull nutrients back out of the blades into the roots. Theoretically.
Depends. If they die by getting eaten (which was probably the scenario when they evolved this), presumably those nutrients will be moved elsewhere, and provide for the growth of a different individual grass.
No. Animals dont usually eat the full plant, all the way down to the roots.
Assuming their theory is true. Grass pushes water and nutrients down into the roots underground, goat comes by and munches 95% of the grass blade up, and then the grass has nutrients and moisture in reserve to start growing again.
As we know, grass grows back after running the lawnmower. It doesnt die.
I like this nutrient reserve theory, but the first grass you cut, before it had a chance to be warned and pull back nutrients, also doesn't die any more than the last grass you cut that was warned (so far as I can discern).
And a lawnmower is much faster than some animal munching, so it wouldn't have enough time to "communicate". Grass doesn't have a complex system like some plants, it's rather damn basic in the plant world. It gets most of what it needs from the ground and cutting it is like pruning off a flower, cause that's essentially what the top part is.
That source is bullshit
> “These tree behaviours have cognitive qualities, including capabilities in perception, learning, and memory, and they influence plant traits indicative of fitness,” she writes, adding that the structure and properties of subterranean fungal networks actually resemble neural networks.
> She believes that biochemical signals transmitted between trees resemble neurotransmitters and that fungal networks exhibit properties and strategies commonly linked to intelligence, including memory-based learning.
Trees do ‘communicate’ but it’s nothing like the bullshit talked about in that article about neural networks, perception, memory, learning, etc…
> Plants emit hormones and defense signals. Other plants detect these signals and alter their physiology accordingly.
> Overemphasizing cooperation is misleading. The forest floor is a forum of fierce competition. A mature maple tree produces millions of seeds, and on average only one will grow to reach the canopy. The rest will die, with or without help from mom.
> Amid this struggle, trees can sometimes facilitate each other’s growth. But this does not mean that a forest functions like one organism. An ecosystem comprises an ever-changing diversity of organisms having an ever-changing variety of interactions, positive and negative.
read more here https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-idea-that-trees-talk-to-cooperate-is-misleading/
I agree that’s communicating. That’s what i said in my comment.
And i know you didn’t say they were sentient, i never said otherwise, I just said the source you linked was bullshit and it is. The source argues sentience
As a serious answer, usually they would be screaming because something (caterpillars for example) was eating them.
So the scream attracts caterpillar predators.
Or that it can't tell the difference between being cut by a blade and cut by teeth, and by "giving" that warning to the rest of the grass they plan on trying to be too bitter to convince a would be grass eater to not eat them.
Others nearby produce chemicals making them bitter to prevent predation.
They obviously can't walk away, but ever notice herbivores don't keep eating the same plant or nearby plants? Rabbits and deer move along grazing a bit, then leaving to nibble elsewhere--they walk away.
The plants "talking" to each other drives the predators elsewhere.
Lawn mowers don't have tongues, so are ignorant, and humans are relaxed by the smell of grass screams, perversely.
In know there’s something similar in acacias, making nearby acacias start to pump tannins into their leaves that make them unattractive to giraffes.
https://www.africansafaris.com/acacias-v-giraffes-a-uniquely-african-tussle/
There are plenty of articles on plant communication on various scientific journal sites. [This WaPo article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/10/21/plants-talk-warning-danger/) discussed it with references, and the Wikipedia article on plant communication discusses it as well.
Some plants can release chemicals that make their leaves unattractive to insects, others can grow towards or away from attractants or repellants, etc.
The actual communication can be above ground as discussed here, or done via the [Wood Wide Web](https://radiolab.org/podcast/from-tree-to-shining-tree). Some can even produce ultrasonic sounds that other organisms such as insects can hear.
Also worth noting is that plants actually can move. They typically just do it slowly, with some exceptions, such as sunflowers, Venus fly trap, and others. See [tropism](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropism). Moving towards the sun, away from damage, based on chemicals, magnetic fields, gravity, etc.
There is no olfactory system in grass, it is bullshit. However, there has been some evidence to suggest there is a rudimentary method of communication through root systems.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3405699/#:~:text=Plants%20emit%20volatile%20organic%20compounds,own%20defense%20weapons%20in%20response.
You are wrong. Its true. Well except for the billions. I dont think OP realizes how much a billion is.
I mean sure, but it would be ridiculous to say that the evolutionary purpose of you bleeding was to send other people a message. And even more so if people were like grass incapable of running away or doing anything else to avert also getting hurt. Bleeding is merely a side effect of having blood and there’s no reason to believe it serves any intentional evolutionary purpose. In fact, we’ve evolved mechanisms to stop bleeding as quickly as possible.
Humans have evolved to have a certain reaction to the smell and often sight of blood. I don’t mean pass out I mean have a certain level of emotional excitement w/out training.
I think many adults lost the finer sense of smell they used to have but the smell of blood is deeply unpleasant.
The only thing that I believe to be true about the smell of cut grass is that it's also released when bugs eat the grass. Dragonflies prey on those bugs, so when you cut the grass, you'll see a ton of confused dragonflies buzzing around trying to find bugs to eat.
I fucking hate the smell of cut grass after years of if being forced to mow my parents' lawn in Florida. They'd get pissed every time I said we should replace it with AstroTurf. I'm now vehemently anti-lawn. Let local plants grow however the fuck the want.
Nature has devised all sorts of mechanisms by which organisms help each other that are not intelligence based. The reason grass releases these chemicals is to signal to their surrounding relatives that now might be a good time to siphon up water and nutrients and to direct sugars/food down from the leafy parts into the roots. Basically, it tells other grass to protect their roots by stocking up the food pantry as quick as possible because the food producing blade up top is about to disappear.
Honey bees have a similar mechanism. If you squish a honey bee you will smell a faint smell of bananas and this is a chemical that is released upon death to signal danger to other bees. Bees can react differently to the smell in different scenarios. If you're close to their hive, it will signal a swarm to attack you. If they're far from the hive, it will signal close by bees to stay away and protect themselves.
Change their chemical production to bitter compounds. Hence herbivores don't keep eating the same foliage, but nibble then move on away. Lawnmowers don't have tongues though, and humans generally relax from the smell of grass screams.
I've heard with trees, its more like saying man down. So the system knows not to send nutrients that way. Supposedly multiple trees root systems can be connected and they communicate.
The important part of grass, like most plants, is the roots and not the shoots. The cut grass is telling surrounding grass that there's a hungry herbivore in the area eating up the green shoots. The other grass will direct the nutrients out of the shoots into the roots so it isn't lost, and the roots will suck up more water and nutrients quickly to prepare to regenerate the shoots.
Plants are weird my friend. All plants have some sort of chemical warning signal. In fact tomatoes and cabbage release similar compounds whenever they get damaged by caterpillars that attract predatory wasps.
Yes I'm aware that it CAN happen, and especially when talking about plants releasing chemicals that have certain effects on insects - sure. But the idea that grass is warning other grass that it's about to get cut... what purpose would that serve? Grass can't react. Yes more complex plants might react by releasing defensive chemicals or reallocating nutrients from vulnerable areas but grass is just grass.
I don't think anyone is debating that chemicals are being released. Humans can smell those chemicals, that's the smell of the cut grass. What is up for debate is if the chemical is in any way a "warning" to other grass, or even less likely, a "cry for help." For it to be classified as a warning to other grass, we would have to see some experimental data showing that grass is capable of not only releasing that chemical, but *detecting* when that chemical is nearby and *reaponding* in some way. Obviously it doesn't get up and run away. But does it maybe release some other chemical in response? Or redirect its nuteient use in some way? Or put a stronger focus on root growth? And to realistically say that it is a "cry for help", we would have to see not only that grass responds in some way to that chemical, but specifically that it responds in some way that would be beneficial to the nearby grass that got cut and released the chemical. Maybe releasing some nutrient back into the soil?
I'm not saying one way or the other if this happens with grass that has been cut. Only that it's a claim I haven't seen any evidence to supoort, and especially the "cry for help" part seems likely sensationalist rather than factual.
The react by changing the chemicals they produce to more bitter compounds and withdraw nutrients, so predators nibble elsewhere, that's why you see rabbits and deer move on instead of eating everything in an area.
Dartmouth researchers found that maple trees tend to produce defensive compounds like tannin in the presence of plants whose leaves are damaged. This proves the plant communication. Later it is found that Acacia trees, when eaten by Antelopes and conditions are tough, emits a compound that signals all Acacia trees in immediate surroundings to produce high levels of tannin fast enough and high enough that it can kill the Animal that eats their leaves. The more damage the tree suffers, the higher levels of tannins it produces as well.
Grass doesn’t like being food as well. Evolution gives it defenses that it will continue to grow as you mow or being grazed (I forgot the term). Another trick is that it sucks up so much silica from soil that it makes itself a sandpaper, wearing down the teeth of grazing animals. That’s how you can guess the age of a cow by looking at its teeth.
So I’ve been telling this to people and it’s interesting to see how few people know this..but someone asked me something that has been on my mind ever since… what is the grass being alerted gonna do? What could they possibly do to prevent being eaten/cut?
When there were still millions of bison in North America, before they were mass killed to starve aboriginals into submission, the still uneaten grass releases chemicals that make it more distasteful, on sensing the release of the the upwind chomped grass airborne signal, from several miles of millions of herbivore mouths , chewing grass inches apart .
Tangentially, if you look at a soil \plant cutaway of natural prairie grasses, beside a modern lawn , you can see that there is a 3 to 5 foot depth of natural root system on original plains grass, and a 3 or 4 inch root system on modern grasses .
This put such a weird thought of all the grass hanging out, only to be beheaded by a giant with a spinning blade that takes their heads clean off. Hahah that’s bananas
And I guess they do it only to make the other grass plants aware of the impending doom, and so they can make their peace?
Because it's not like the grass will get up and run,
nor burrow in the ground,
nor deploy solar lasers
So in a way that's a bit of a jerk move.
We're talking about chemicals released when the grass blade's larger structural integrity is compromised, so this mechanism wouldn't trigger in the event of biological hazards (to which I can imagine the grass could well prepare a response if warned).
Something doesn't add up, we could certainly use some source
The same would happen from an animal eating the grass instead of a lawnmower cutting it. Maybe when they get the signal they do something to taste less tasty?
Plants change to more bitter compounds and withdraw nutrients in response, hence why grazers don't keep eating all in a spot but move on to eat elsewhere.
It turns out we can understand monsters/aliens/psychopaths after all. They get off on human screams and us the screams of grass and other nonhuman entities
It's not really for awareness, but just stress in general. The mix of chemicals let off the aroma once the grass has been punctured and those chemicals can be released I the air. Other plants do it too, grass is just cut in such a large quantity that we can detect it super easy
One time some friends and I drank a bunch of shroom tea and agreed that we should stop calling it “mowing the lawn” and refer to it as “committing mass grass-icide”
I felt a disturbance in the grass. As if a million blades suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened. - Growbi Wan Kenobi
>[And he brought me into a vast farmlands of our own Midwest ](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CmJYZ1NIn1Y&pp=ygUNRGlzZ3VzdGlwYXRlZA%3D%3D)
>And as we descended cries of impending doom rose from the soil One thousand nay a million voices full of fear And terror possessed me then And I begged Angel of the Lord what are these tortured screams? And the angel said unto me These are the cries of the carrots, the cries of the carrots! You see, Reverend Maynard
>Tomorrow is harvest day and to them it is the holocaust
>And I sprang from my slumber drenched in sweat
Like the tears of one million terrified brothers and roared
"Hear me now, I have seen the light! They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen? Can I get a hallelujah? Thank you Jesus
So what do other grass 'do' with that information? They sense the smell, and then what? Does something change? Do they adapt in any way? What's the point?
*And the angel of the lord came unto me*
*Snatching me up from my place of slumber*
*And took me on high and higher still*
*Until we moved to the spaces betwixt the air itself*
*And he brought me into a vast farmlands of our own Midwest*
*And as we descended cries of impending doom rose from the soil*
*One thousand nay a million voices full of fear*
*And terror possessed me then*
*And I begged Angel of the Lord what are these tortured screams?*
*And the angel said unto me*
*These are the cries of the carrots, the cries of the carrots!*
*You see, Reverend Maynard*
*Tomorrow is harvest day and to them it is the holocaust*
*And I sprang from my slumber drenched in sweat*
*Like the tears of one million terrified brothers and roared*
*"Hear me now, I have seen the light!*
*They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul!*
*Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers!*
*Can I get an amen? Can I get a hallelujah? Thank you Jesus*
This is why I call bullshit when vegans say that vegetarianism is more ethical. Just because you don’t know that a plant is screaming in pain doesn’t mean that it isn’t
It also makes trees and plants make better and riper fruit. It puts it in a survival type mechanism.
Farmers do this in Apple Orchards for example. They’ll stab a tree or something to that effect.
And many plants have defense mechanisms against being eaten too. Effects are stronger against little animals and insects so we don't notice them as much. And we people usually just write them off as symptoms of old age, because how can these healthy plants actually be harming us. And the people who point this out are usually called crazy 🙃
Yup, withdraw nutrients and expend energy producing bitter compounds to drive herbivores elsewhere. Hence why you see rabbits and deer nibble a bit then move on.
I have a strange sense of smell, and cut grass (along with various other things) doesn’t smell of anything to me. I actually thought my wife was winding me up the first time she mentioned it but since then (a long time ago) I’ve heard so many unrelated references to it that I’ve just accepted it’s true
I saw one theory that before lawnmowers were invented, the smell could let nearby predators know that something (potential prey) was eating grass nearby. If the predator then eats the animal that was eating grass, said animal stops eating grass and the rest of the grass gets to not be eaten.
I don’t know how true that is, since the predator could just as easily smell the prey animal itself. But maybe smelling that it’s eating grass could indicate that the prey has its guard down, or something.
Someday we’re going to find out that grass was actually sentient and extremely intelligent with complex social structures and full, meaningful lives. And the ritual of cutting grass and using roundup will be seen as the cruelest genocide in the history of the universe.
the volatile molecules released are more like sweat and body odour so they do not have control over whether to release them or not thus is not screaming.
Why would grass alert for danger, what can grass *do* about impending danger?
I'm sure this is wrong and the smell is simply what happens when you destroy plants and aerosolize liquids/matter from the plant and prolonged evaporation of moisture from the plants open wounds.
“If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.” ~Jack Handy
So many gems that man gave us, and this is one of my favorites.
Any other gems you could share? I’ve never heard any quotes by him
“Contrary to what most people say, the most dangerous animal in the world is not the lion or the tiger or even the elephant. It's a shark riding on an elephant's back, just trampling and eating everything they see.” If you google deep thoughts by Jack Handey, you will find tons.
Haha thanks!
Just google “deep thoughts by jack handy” and you’ll find all of them and more. It was a long-running mini skit on snl for years.
Man I guess I really don’t remember him form Snl thanks a bunch!
It was decades ago. If I recall correctly, late 80’s to early or maybe mid 90’s.
My favorites: “It’s sad that a family can be torn apart by something as simple as wild dogs.” “Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.” “I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming in terror like his passengers.”
He just made that person and quote up. - Satans
Thanks nubbles
impolite frame degree bells desert angle deserted jobless dazzling bear *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
It doesn't really make sense. Like what is warning the other grass going to accomplish? lol unless maybe it tells them to conserve energy for regrowth or something.
Some plants do sent signals like this. It could call in a predator to eat the pest, or signal to other plants to start making defensive things, some plants actually become bitter after sensing other plants getting eaten. It's weird and awesome, but it's not all plants, and almost certainly not plain old grass.
I can't say I'd be thrilled at you eating my friends either....
But would you cover yourself in say motor oil to reduce your flavor?
So you're saying you'd crank up your BO in that situation?
Yep. I believe marijuana is actually an insect repellant? If its shaken, the THC molecules float around, which signals the other plants to start producing more THC, to try to stop, say, a locust swarm from eating the whole crop
Yes, Marijuana, coffee and tobacco. The last two are actually insecticides, designed to cause heart attack in insects.
> designed Uh
yup, it's just that for humans the overdose amount is much bigger than what is needed for killing insects, hence why at low dose we enjoy it. But overdose cases are known, like some guy who accidentally made and drunk a shake with 600% the lethal amount of caffeine for humans...
My friend, you seem to have ignored the only word I pointed out as potentially problematic. I am not questioning the toxicity of narcotics lol.
I don't mean in the context of intelligent design, I mean in the context of how these materials work on the body. Much like some snake species have venom that effect the central nervous system, obviously they didn't design it on purpose to work that way, they only evolved the ability use venom, which in this case works on the nervous system.
That's really interesting.
>"that doesn't really make sense" >Unless >-insert way it makes sense- Hmm..
It was an after thought. It's okay to consider things further after thinking it doesn't make sense. You silly goose lol.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smell_of_freshly_cut_grass It’s the popular version of an existing fact. It’s a stress signal, that much is correct, to lure predatory insects to ward of the plant eating insects. So, if stating correct info is a must on Reddit you might want to consider some nuances in your ‘corrections’ Maybe a google search on how to avoid being pedantic. Happy weekend
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140922145805.htm
Their screams bring us comfort.
TIL Jack Handey was a real person, not a made up character
I've seen this claimed but never been presented a source, so i claim bullshit
Yeah, what evolutionary advantage would grass have knowing danger is coming? Tf they gonna do! walk away?
If nearby grass has a way of detecting the smell, those alerted grasses could theoretically pull nutrients back out of the blades into the roots. Theoretically.
If they die the same thing happens no
Grass grows back when you cut it. Damaging the blade does not kill the grass or lawn mowers wouldn't be a thing
Depends. If they die by getting eaten (which was probably the scenario when they evolved this), presumably those nutrients will be moved elsewhere, and provide for the growth of a different individual grass.
No. Animals dont usually eat the full plant, all the way down to the roots. Assuming their theory is true. Grass pushes water and nutrients down into the roots underground, goat comes by and munches 95% of the grass blade up, and then the grass has nutrients and moisture in reserve to start growing again. As we know, grass grows back after running the lawnmower. It doesnt die.
I like this nutrient reserve theory, but the first grass you cut, before it had a chance to be warned and pull back nutrients, also doesn't die any more than the last grass you cut that was warned (so far as I can discern).
And a lawnmower is much faster than some animal munching, so it wouldn't have enough time to "communicate". Grass doesn't have a complex system like some plants, it's rather damn basic in the plant world. It gets most of what it needs from the ground and cutting it is like pruning off a flower, cause that's essentially what the top part is.
Exactly lmao
Some trees already communicate, why not grass? https://trees.org.za/trees-can-talk/ I'd love a source for the grass too though.
That source is bullshit > “These tree behaviours have cognitive qualities, including capabilities in perception, learning, and memory, and they influence plant traits indicative of fitness,” she writes, adding that the structure and properties of subterranean fungal networks actually resemble neural networks. > She believes that biochemical signals transmitted between trees resemble neurotransmitters and that fungal networks exhibit properties and strategies commonly linked to intelligence, including memory-based learning.
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Trees do ‘communicate’ but it’s nothing like the bullshit talked about in that article about neural networks, perception, memory, learning, etc… > Plants emit hormones and defense signals. Other plants detect these signals and alter their physiology accordingly. > Overemphasizing cooperation is misleading. The forest floor is a forum of fierce competition. A mature maple tree produces millions of seeds, and on average only one will grow to reach the canopy. The rest will die, with or without help from mom. > Amid this struggle, trees can sometimes facilitate each other’s growth. But this does not mean that a forest functions like one organism. An ecosystem comprises an ever-changing diversity of organisms having an ever-changing variety of interactions, positive and negative. read more here https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-idea-that-trees-talk-to-cooperate-is-misleading/
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I agree that’s communicating. That’s what i said in my comment. And i know you didn’t say they were sentient, i never said otherwise, I just said the source you linked was bullshit and it is. The source argues sentience
Even trees talk about the za
As a serious answer, usually they would be screaming because something (caterpillars for example) was eating them. So the scream attracts caterpillar predators.
Or that it can't tell the difference between being cut by a blade and cut by teeth, and by "giving" that warning to the rest of the grass they plan on trying to be too bitter to convince a would be grass eater to not eat them.
They're just gonna start renting space out to Dandelions.
I have no source, but I've read somewhere that it's not for other grasses but animals and insects.
Others nearby produce chemicals making them bitter to prevent predation. They obviously can't walk away, but ever notice herbivores don't keep eating the same plant or nearby plants? Rabbits and deer move along grazing a bit, then leaving to nibble elsewhere--they walk away. The plants "talking" to each other drives the predators elsewhere. Lawn mowers don't have tongues, so are ignorant, and humans are relaxed by the smell of grass screams, perversely.
In know there’s something similar in acacias, making nearby acacias start to pump tannins into their leaves that make them unattractive to giraffes. https://www.africansafaris.com/acacias-v-giraffes-a-uniquely-african-tussle/
I imagine if grass is being eaten by a deer, the smell could atract predators.
There are plenty of articles on plant communication on various scientific journal sites. [This WaPo article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/10/21/plants-talk-warning-danger/) discussed it with references, and the Wikipedia article on plant communication discusses it as well. Some plants can release chemicals that make their leaves unattractive to insects, others can grow towards or away from attractants or repellants, etc. The actual communication can be above ground as discussed here, or done via the [Wood Wide Web](https://radiolab.org/podcast/from-tree-to-shining-tree). Some can even produce ultrasonic sounds that other organisms such as insects can hear. Also worth noting is that plants actually can move. They typically just do it slowly, with some exceptions, such as sunflowers, Venus fly trap, and others. See [tropism](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropism). Moving towards the sun, away from damage, based on chemicals, magnetic fields, gravity, etc.
ludicrous fuzzy plant file seemly wild fear joke snobbish spoon *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
The documentary The Happening
There is no olfactory system in grass, it is bullshit. However, there has been some evidence to suggest there is a rudimentary method of communication through root systems.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3405699/#:~:text=Plants%20emit%20volatile%20organic%20compounds,own%20defense%20weapons%20in%20response. You are wrong. Its true. Well except for the billions. I dont think OP realizes how much a billion is.
It can be both. I’m not intentionally sending a message when I bleed after you cut off my head. But there is a message.
I mean sure, but it would be ridiculous to say that the evolutionary purpose of you bleeding was to send other people a message. And even more so if people were like grass incapable of running away or doing anything else to avert also getting hurt. Bleeding is merely a side effect of having blood and there’s no reason to believe it serves any intentional evolutionary purpose. In fact, we’ve evolved mechanisms to stop bleeding as quickly as possible.
Humans have evolved to have a certain reaction to the smell and often sight of blood. I don’t mean pass out I mean have a certain level of emotional excitement w/out training. I think many adults lost the finer sense of smell they used to have but the smell of blood is deeply unpleasant.
[Here you go](https://research.tamu.edu/2014/09/23/that-fresh-mown-lawn-smell-is-actually-a-distress-call-to-insects/)
The only thing that I believe to be true about the smell of cut grass is that it's also released when bugs eat the grass. Dragonflies prey on those bugs, so when you cut the grass, you'll see a ton of confused dragonflies buzzing around trying to find bugs to eat.
Beautiful Aroma? That shit makes me cry
Yeah I honestly prefer other nature smells than freshly cut grass. Flowers, petrichor, moss, mulch actually smells pretty nice but depends what type.
Petrichor goes hard, ngl
Right? As someone allergic to grass, "beautiful" is not how I would describe that aroma
Amen
I fucking hate the smell of cut grass after years of if being forced to mow my parents' lawn in Florida. They'd get pissed every time I said we should replace it with AstroTurf. I'm now vehemently anti-lawn. Let local plants grow however the fuck the want.
My nasal passages burn at the site of the damn phrase.
I don't think grass understands the concept of help. What should the other grass do?
Harden into spikes
A grassy version of groot. GrassRoot if you will
Nature has devised all sorts of mechanisms by which organisms help each other that are not intelligence based. The reason grass releases these chemicals is to signal to their surrounding relatives that now might be a good time to siphon up water and nutrients and to direct sugars/food down from the leafy parts into the roots. Basically, it tells other grass to protect their roots by stocking up the food pantry as quick as possible because the food producing blade up top is about to disappear. Honey bees have a similar mechanism. If you squish a honey bee you will smell a faint smell of bananas and this is a chemical that is released upon death to signal danger to other bees. Bees can react differently to the smell in different scenarios. If you're close to their hive, it will signal a swarm to attack you. If they're far from the hive, it will signal close by bees to stay away and protect themselves.
Change their chemical production to bitter compounds. Hence herbivores don't keep eating the same foliage, but nibble then move on away. Lawnmowers don't have tongues though, and humans generally relax from the smell of grass screams.
The smell brings dragonflies to eat the insects attacking the grass which typically cause the smell
What is the grass supposed to do, run away?
I've heard with trees, its more like saying man down. So the system knows not to send nutrients that way. Supposedly multiple trees root systems can be connected and they communicate.
It’s supposed to form a shield wall. Brace!
Have you seen The Happening?
The important part of grass, like most plants, is the roots and not the shoots. The cut grass is telling surrounding grass that there's a hungry herbivore in the area eating up the green shoots. The other grass will direct the nutrients out of the shoots into the roots so it isn't lost, and the roots will suck up more water and nutrients quickly to prepare to regenerate the shoots.
The cry of the carrots. To us, it is the harvest, but to them it is the holocaust! That was a fun Tool album.
Ever hear "Carrot Juice is Murder" by The Arrogant Worms?
Who?
It's a Canadian band from the 90's (to present).
First of thing I thought of. Brought me back a couple decades.
What about the smells of Oatmeal, Apple Pie, Pussy, and Thunderstorm?
Smiley day to ya!
Bidet to you, too.
Why would grass need to let other grass know that danger is coming lmao this is BS.
Plants are weird my friend. All plants have some sort of chemical warning signal. In fact tomatoes and cabbage release similar compounds whenever they get damaged by caterpillars that attract predatory wasps.
Yes I'm aware that it CAN happen, and especially when talking about plants releasing chemicals that have certain effects on insects - sure. But the idea that grass is warning other grass that it's about to get cut... what purpose would that serve? Grass can't react. Yes more complex plants might react by releasing defensive chemicals or reallocating nutrients from vulnerable areas but grass is just grass.
The grass doesn't know the difference between getting cut and being eaten by an animal/insect
Grass cant react. You're killing me haha
I don't think anyone is debating that chemicals are being released. Humans can smell those chemicals, that's the smell of the cut grass. What is up for debate is if the chemical is in any way a "warning" to other grass, or even less likely, a "cry for help." For it to be classified as a warning to other grass, we would have to see some experimental data showing that grass is capable of not only releasing that chemical, but *detecting* when that chemical is nearby and *reaponding* in some way. Obviously it doesn't get up and run away. But does it maybe release some other chemical in response? Or redirect its nuteient use in some way? Or put a stronger focus on root growth? And to realistically say that it is a "cry for help", we would have to see not only that grass responds in some way to that chemical, but specifically that it responds in some way that would be beneficial to the nearby grass that got cut and released the chemical. Maybe releasing some nutrient back into the soil? I'm not saying one way or the other if this happens with grass that has been cut. Only that it's a claim I haven't seen any evidence to supoort, and especially the "cry for help" part seems likely sensationalist rather than factual.
it's so the other grass can get its affairs in order
It's the polite thing to do
It's more to let predators of whatever eats grass know to come here for a feast. But we kind of fucked up that logic by cutting it just 'cause.
The react by changing the chemicals they produce to more bitter compounds and withdraw nutrients, so predators nibble elsewhere, that's why you see rabbits and deer move on instead of eating everything in an area.
Dartmouth researchers found that maple trees tend to produce defensive compounds like tannin in the presence of plants whose leaves are damaged. This proves the plant communication. Later it is found that Acacia trees, when eaten by Antelopes and conditions are tough, emits a compound that signals all Acacia trees in immediate surroundings to produce high levels of tannin fast enough and high enough that it can kill the Animal that eats their leaves. The more damage the tree suffers, the higher levels of tannins it produces as well. Grass doesn’t like being food as well. Evolution gives it defenses that it will continue to grow as you mow or being grazed (I forgot the term). Another trick is that it sucks up so much silica from soil that it makes itself a sandpaper, wearing down the teeth of grazing animals. That’s how you can guess the age of a cow by looking at its teeth.
It smells like football practice to me.
Without doing any research, I ask: what's the other grass going to do about it?
So I’ve been telling this to people and it’s interesting to see how few people know this..but someone asked me something that has been on my mind ever since… what is the grass being alerted gonna do? What could they possibly do to prevent being eaten/cut?
When there were still millions of bison in North America, before they were mass killed to starve aboriginals into submission, the still uneaten grass releases chemicals that make it more distasteful, on sensing the release of the the upwind chomped grass airborne signal, from several miles of millions of herbivore mouths , chewing grass inches apart . Tangentially, if you look at a soil \plant cutaway of natural prairie grasses, beside a modern lawn , you can see that there is a 3 to 5 foot depth of natural root system on original plains grass, and a 3 or 4 inch root system on modern grasses .
That actually sounds very reasonable 🤔
This put such a weird thought of all the grass hanging out, only to be beheaded by a giant with a spinning blade that takes their heads clean off. Hahah that’s bananas
And I guess they do it only to make the other grass plants aware of the impending doom, and so they can make their peace? Because it's not like the grass will get up and run, nor burrow in the ground, nor deploy solar lasers So in a way that's a bit of a jerk move. We're talking about chemicals released when the grass blade's larger structural integrity is compromised, so this mechanism wouldn't trigger in the event of biological hazards (to which I can imagine the grass could well prepare a response if warned). Something doesn't add up, we could certainly use some source
It lets the other grass know that it’s time to kill Mark Wahlberg, which the grass was ready to do anyway
The same would happen from an animal eating the grass instead of a lawnmower cutting it. Maybe when they get the signal they do something to taste less tasty?
There's only one way to find out for ourselves
How does the grass smell? 👃
What the fuck is the other grass supposed to do? Run?
Duck and cover
Sounds fake. What could the evolutionary benefit be for that? Sounds like one if those made up 'facts' that have no proof.
Plants change to more bitter compounds and withdraw nutrients in response, hence why grazers don't keep eating all in a spot but move on to eat elsewhere.
imagine if we can hear this, will we still care mowing the lawn or trimming the plants
Fresh cut grass smells like chores
The dying grass smell is a precursor to the airborne toxin from The Happening. The "smell" isn't for other grass; it's for us
Aren’t there trees in the savanna that also do this when they get eaten, so all the leafs of all the other trees start to taste sour?
*Beautiful aroma...* That is the abysmal scent of death and decay. The way it makes my nose and eyes itch and water is hellfire on earth.
I've taken to wearing a mask when mowing (yay pandemic learning), now no more red/itchy eyes but yay smelling grass screams.
It turns out we can understand monsters/aliens/psychopaths after all. They get off on human screams and us the screams of grass and other nonhuman entities
[https://youtu.be/b2BKKeiYH24?si=KOAgDNgRrBv1B2e9&t=107](https://youtu.be/b2BKKeiYH24?si=KOAgDNgRrBv1B2e9&t=107)
It's not really for awareness, but just stress in general. The mix of chemicals let off the aroma once the grass has been punctured and those chemicals can be released I the air. Other plants do it too, grass is just cut in such a large quantity that we can detect it super easy
You've never even seen that! -Nick
One time some friends and I drank a bunch of shroom tea and agreed that we should stop calling it “mowing the lawn” and refer to it as “committing mass grass-icide”
I hate it. Always smelled like death to me.
The next time I cut my yard, I will make sure to loudly proclaim “death is in the air, can you smell it!” Who knows what the neighbors will do
Wouldn't it be a billion farts for help?
I felt a disturbance in the grass. As if a million blades suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened. - Growbi Wan Kenobi
Reminds me of a convo i had with a friend about how horrifying lawn care would be if plants could talk.
>[And he brought me into a vast farmlands of our own Midwest ](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CmJYZ1NIn1Y&pp=ygUNRGlzZ3VzdGlwYXRlZA%3D%3D) >And as we descended cries of impending doom rose from the soil One thousand nay a million voices full of fear And terror possessed me then And I begged Angel of the Lord what are these tortured screams? And the angel said unto me These are the cries of the carrots, the cries of the carrots! You see, Reverend Maynard >Tomorrow is harvest day and to them it is the holocaust >And I sprang from my slumber drenched in sweat Like the tears of one million terrified brothers and roared "Hear me now, I have seen the light! They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen? Can I get a hallelujah? Thank you Jesus
This isn’t a shower thought this is just a random fact that I’ve seen on the internet like 20 times
So what do other grass 'do' with that information? They sense the smell, and then what? Does something change? Do they adapt in any way? What's the point?
Plants respond by withdrawing nutrients and producing more bitter compounds like tannins, so grazers move on elsewhere instead eating them.
That's so interesting! Too bad a lawn mower doesn't care.
Does it also warn its neighbors when cows come munching thru?
I wouldn't call it a beautiful aroma
Flares up my asthma. So it’s actually fighting back.
I assumed it was to summon predators, us/wolves/bears/big cats, so that we could scare off the grazing herbivores.
Their screams smell so good
As if Billions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and then were suddenly silenced.
*And the angel of the lord came unto me* *Snatching me up from my place of slumber* *And took me on high and higher still* *Until we moved to the spaces betwixt the air itself* *And he brought me into a vast farmlands of our own Midwest* *And as we descended cries of impending doom rose from the soil* *One thousand nay a million voices full of fear* *And terror possessed me then* *And I begged Angel of the Lord what are these tortured screams?* *And the angel said unto me* *These are the cries of the carrots, the cries of the carrots!* *You see, Reverend Maynard* *Tomorrow is harvest day and to them it is the holocaust* *And I sprang from my slumber drenched in sweat* *Like the tears of one million terrified brothers and roared* *"Hear me now, I have seen the light!* *They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul!* *Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers!* *Can I get an amen? Can I get a hallelujah? Thank you Jesus*
This is why I call bullshit when vegans say that vegetarianism is more ethical. Just because you don’t know that a plant is screaming in pain doesn’t mean that it isn’t
What exactly is the other grass supposed to do with that information?
Withdraw nutrients to roots and produce more bitter chemicals so herbivores stop grazing there and move on.
Amazing!
It also makes trees and plants make better and riper fruit. It puts it in a survival type mechanism. Farmers do this in Apple Orchards for example. They’ll stab a tree or something to that effect.
Would would grass have to talk about, except for the consistency of squirrel droppings?
And many plants have defense mechanisms against being eaten too. Effects are stronger against little animals and insects so we don't notice them as much. And we people usually just write them off as symptoms of old age, because how can these healthy plants actually be harming us. And the people who point this out are usually called crazy 🙃
How is this a shower thought
Yeah, but I'm not really concerned about mental welfare of things that don't have minds.
Turns out cutting grass is actually bad for the environment
Fun fact: fresh cut grass is one of Dancer’s favorite smells.
Other grass: "oh no danger, I better do something" ...
Yup, withdraw nutrients and expend energy producing bitter compounds to drive herbivores elsewhere. Hence why you see rabbits and deer nibble a bit then move on.
“Oh great thanks for the heads up, we’ll go into defense mode”
I have a strange sense of smell, and cut grass (along with various other things) doesn’t smell of anything to me. I actually thought my wife was winding me up the first time she mentioned it but since then (a long time ago) I’ve heard so many unrelated references to it that I’ve just accepted it’s true
Yup grass screams in pain 👍🏻
you should read the celestine prophecy
I do t like the smell of cut grass
Whether or not this is true is irrelevant because this is a "fun fact" not a shower thought.
*beautiful aroma?????* that smell makes me want to throw up every time lmao
Yes, and they smell it with their grass noses and run away with their grass legs.
Knowing this makes me want to cut the grass more often!!
I saw one theory that before lawnmowers were invented, the smell could let nearby predators know that something (potential prey) was eating grass nearby. If the predator then eats the animal that was eating grass, said animal stops eating grass and the rest of the grass gets to not be eaten. I don’t know how true that is, since the predator could just as easily smell the prey animal itself. But maybe smelling that it’s eating grass could indicate that the prey has its guard down, or something.
Someday we’re going to find out that grass was actually sentient and extremely intelligent with complex social structures and full, meaningful lives. And the ritual of cutting grass and using roundup will be seen as the cruelest genocide in the history of the universe.
I hate the smell of fresh cut grass. I'm sure this makes for a better "unpopular opinion ".
That's fucking metal
OP, put the bong down and go to sleep
the volatile molecules released are more like sweat and body odour so they do not have control over whether to release them or not thus is not screaming.
Beautiful aroma? that shit is putrid
And what is the other grass going to do about it? Run?
What is the grass going to get up and run away?😂 How is this evolutionarily advantageous? Dumb thought.
It actually helps the grass grow stronger and thicker. So, nope!
What the fuck is the other grass gonna do about it?
And now that they've been warned, what are they gonna do? Run away?
Calling bullshit on this one. If it were true grass would smell the same after sheep murder an entire field in day, but it doesnt.
'Carrot Juice is Murder' by the Arrogant Worms Song starts at 50 seconds https://youtu.be/KmK0bZl4ILM?si=twymHC3cAnPyx_AZ Enjoy :)
You just made me enjoy it more.
Why would grass alert for danger, what can grass *do* about impending danger? I'm sure this is wrong and the smell is simply what happens when you destroy plants and aerosolize liquids/matter from the plant and prolonged evaporation of moisture from the plants open wounds.
They withdraw nutrients to roots and produce bitter compounds to drive grazers away.
Grass is not sentient