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While researching her doctoral thesis, Suzanne Simard, now a professor of forest ecology at the University of British Columbia, made an astounding discovery – trees in forests seem to possess complex information superhighways in their root systems that allow them to share information. Her 1995 doctoral thesis on the topic has been part of a revolution in how scientists view plants, leading many to suggest that they possess cognitive abilities, and even intelligence. This animation from TED-Ed details the symbiotic relationship – between tree roots and fungi called mycorrhizae – that serves as the foundation of these intricate intra-tree communication networks, allowing them to trade news on topics such as drought and insect attacks, and even detect if an incoming message has been sent by a close relative.
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Technology and the self
A filmmaker finds a tactile beauty in the creation of her prosthetic leg
11 minutes
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Knowledge
An Indigenous myth and a geological survey elicit two ways of knowing one place
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Biology
Beetles take flight at 6,000 frames per second in this perspective-shifting short
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War and peace
A war meteorologist’s riveting account of how the Allies averted a D-Day disaster
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Physics
What does it look like to hunt for dark matter? Scenes from one frontier in the search
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Biology
An elegy for a dying microbe explores what we really mean by ‘death’
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Biotechnology
It’s our responsibility to engineer corals that can weather the world we’ve created
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Physics
Imagining spacetime as a visible grid is an extraordinary journey into the unseen
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Engineering
For one of nature’s great builders, finding a mate means weaving the perfect nest
4 minutes