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8
Nov
2017
You’ve probably seen pictures of human nerves – a central neuron with axons and dendrites radiating out from it like the roots of a tree. (If not, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuron)
The neuron is the trunk, the central core, that contains the cell’s nucleus. The axons and dendrites are the extended arms that connect with other nerve cells to transmit information.
The resemblance to tree roots may be more than coincidence. UBC-Okanagan forest ecology professor Suzanne Simard has proven conclusively that trees communicate with each other through their roots.
Dig into the soil of any forest, and you’ll find a network of tree roots, overlapping, inter-weaving. You probably won’t see the second component of communication, the invisible filaments of fungi.
Simard’s research demonstrates, beyond dispute, that trees send messages, and food, to each other through their roots, with those fungal filaments bridging the gaps in much the same way that synapses work in the human brain.
Categories: Soft Edges
Tags: Suzanne Simard, roots, forests, consciousness, brains, lobotomy
17
Jul
Fires are always good fodder for news stories.
They’re vastly more visual than meetings where dark-suited dignitaries sit in stone circles. Stonehenge shows more animation.
The nature worshippers who created Stonehenge might, in fact, have more understanding of the causes of this summer’s fires than we do.
Amid the smoke (and mirrors), a few still small voices have whispered the words, “climate change.” The gradual warming of the Pacific Ocean affects air flow patterns over the continent. As a result, summers get hotter, or wetter. Winters get colder, or milder. Which sounds confusing, even contradictory. Which is precisely what’s happening. As the air flow loops look more and more like a snake with constipation, weather becomes unpredictable.
The only sure thing is that whatever comes, it will be more extreme than expected.
Categories: Sharp Edges
Tags: Forest fires, BC, Suzanne Simard