This is some 'everything is everything' science since research has shown certain types of trees 'know' when they have been nibbled by roe deer because they react to that specific saliva 'signature.' (Science Daily: Trees recognize roe deer by saliva)
At first this may seem like scientific cleverness as what difference does it make when you're eaten since your problems are only digestive after that. The interesting part is the tree defends itself because being browsed by roe deer is destructive to the overall population of that type of tree. From this research, the scientists immediately wonder what defenses other trees may use.
There's a similar type of situation in Africa because large browsing creatures such as elephants and rhinos make a significant contribution toward keeping the African grasslands grassy by preventing a large spread of trees. With reductions in elephant and rhino populations due to poaching and joy boy safari hunting, there is less inhibition of trees and thus the grasslands may be taken over in time by forests.
The sci fi aspect goes to the original hippie mantra of 'everything is everything,' that all things are related in intricate ways and nothing stands alone. The research gives all the more credence as do cooperative bacteria in our guts since humans need those to survive. There's no need to flog the examples since likely there's no big surprise.
Maybe the sci fi goes that observing these relationships exist is nice but what happens when we encourage them. We can't encourage the trees to get better at defending against roe deer because then the deer will starve and we're sure Mother Gaia wants them around too for something, we just don't know what it is.
The encouragement of cooperative or symbiotic creatures has been trying to go cyber for some while what with nanobots delivering medicine and other such mechanically cooperative devices. Our sci fi will be troubled over what Mother Gaia makes of us introducing artificial things but maybe it works and she smiles. As we have seen, it's a bad idea to piss her off since then earthquakes and volcanoes happen.
The extension of these cooperative nanobots is when they become long-term partners performing some type of physical maintenance within our bodies. That's not so sci fi or radical when they consider how to make such things now and that's part of the intrigue with Science Daily. When they try such things, that's likely where the layman (i.e. me) will see it first.
- Insert editorial on science seriously needs an ethics review board with the assignments as we've listed previously. We don't want some down home preacher going on about climate change but we do want high end theologians such as the Dominicans. -
Everything is everything spins off into so much music, so many beautiful things, that sci fi really doesn't have much to do with it. Call it harmony with nature if you like as what else is more likely as we understand it better. There's no song to write since you know it already but it's encouraging to see formal confirmation of one more aspect of the truth of it. Trees 'know' what eats them. Well, now.
At first this may seem like scientific cleverness as what difference does it make when you're eaten since your problems are only digestive after that. The interesting part is the tree defends itself because being browsed by roe deer is destructive to the overall population of that type of tree. From this research, the scientists immediately wonder what defenses other trees may use.
There's a similar type of situation in Africa because large browsing creatures such as elephants and rhinos make a significant contribution toward keeping the African grasslands grassy by preventing a large spread of trees. With reductions in elephant and rhino populations due to poaching and joy boy safari hunting, there is less inhibition of trees and thus the grasslands may be taken over in time by forests.
The sci fi aspect goes to the original hippie mantra of 'everything is everything,' that all things are related in intricate ways and nothing stands alone. The research gives all the more credence as do cooperative bacteria in our guts since humans need those to survive. There's no need to flog the examples since likely there's no big surprise.
Maybe the sci fi goes that observing these relationships exist is nice but what happens when we encourage them. We can't encourage the trees to get better at defending against roe deer because then the deer will starve and we're sure Mother Gaia wants them around too for something, we just don't know what it is.
The encouragement of cooperative or symbiotic creatures has been trying to go cyber for some while what with nanobots delivering medicine and other such mechanically cooperative devices. Our sci fi will be troubled over what Mother Gaia makes of us introducing artificial things but maybe it works and she smiles. As we have seen, it's a bad idea to piss her off since then earthquakes and volcanoes happen.
The extension of these cooperative nanobots is when they become long-term partners performing some type of physical maintenance within our bodies. That's not so sci fi or radical when they consider how to make such things now and that's part of the intrigue with Science Daily. When they try such things, that's likely where the layman (i.e. me) will see it first.
- Insert editorial on science seriously needs an ethics review board with the assignments as we've listed previously. We don't want some down home preacher going on about climate change but we do want high end theologians such as the Dominicans. -
Everything is everything spins off into so much music, so many beautiful things, that sci fi really doesn't have much to do with it. Call it harmony with nature if you like as what else is more likely as we understand it better. There's no song to write since you know it already but it's encouraging to see formal confirmation of one more aspect of the truth of it. Trees 'know' what eats them. Well, now.
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