0:00:16.803,0:00:18.693
Thank you to everyone for being here.

0:00:18.851,0:00:22.271
I'm sorry I cannot speak [br]in your wonderful language,

0:00:22.419,0:00:27.689
but it's all the same a pleasure[br]to be here in this wonderful place,

0:00:27.802,0:00:32.402
the right place to speak about plants.

0:00:32.490,0:00:36.300
OK, let's start immediately[br]because we have not too much time.

0:00:36.347,0:00:42.737
And I will show you now four slides[br]in a very fast sequence.

0:00:43.256,0:00:45.116
This one.

0:00:45.736,0:00:46.916
This one.

0:00:47.926,0:00:49.686
This one.

0:00:49.686,0:00:51.566
And, the last one.

0:00:51.566,0:00:54.666
Well (Laughs), this one ...

0:00:55.726,0:00:59.126
It's a very easy psychological test

0:00:59.896,0:01:06.086
we did some years ago [br]to the university students.

0:01:06.086,0:01:11.226
We asked these university students[br]to tell us what they saw in the slides.

0:01:11.586,0:01:16.466
And 96% of the people interviewed

0:01:16.466,0:01:20.736
told us that they saw just[br]deers, elks, frogs,

0:01:20.816,0:01:23.466
and for the last slide,

0:01:23.466,0:01:27.246
98% of the people will tell you

0:01:27.246,0:01:30.596
that there is an adult man [br]and a young girl.

0:01:30.596,0:01:34.976
Well, all these slides have in common

0:01:34.976,0:01:39.376
the fact that 80% of the slides [br]is made by plants.

0:01:39.816,0:01:45.336
But our brain is filtering out[br]all this stuff about plants.

0:01:45.636,0:01:49.236
And, it's a well known[br]feature of our brain.

0:01:49.236,0:01:51.756
It's called Plant Blindness.

0:01:51.756,0:01:56.866
It's the inability to see or notice[br]the plants in the environment.

0:01:57.236,0:02:02.846
It's a kind of tool that protects[br]our brain to be overloaded

0:02:02.876,0:02:07.566
with a lot of information [br]about this useless green stuff.

0:02:07.796,0:02:10.476
We evolved in a forest

0:02:10.476,0:02:12.706
and it was much more important for us

0:02:12.706,0:02:16.406
to be aware of animals and other humans,

0:02:16.406,0:02:19.916
and not to be overloaded with [br]all this information about green.

0:02:19.986,0:02:24.266
Well, this was a nice tool[br]at the beginning of our evolution,

0:02:24.356,0:02:26.856
but today, it's a problem.

0:02:26.856,0:02:32.626
Today, this Plant Blindness prevents us,[br]for example to know this data,

0:02:33.116,0:02:35.566
this is the unbelievable data,

0:02:35.566,0:02:41.826
99.7% of the biomass[br]of the planet is made by plants.

0:02:42.856,0:02:48.446
So, everything that -[br]I would say that the life of the planet,

0:02:48.446,0:02:50.636
it's a green place, it's a green life.

0:02:50.656,0:02:56.456
All the animals altogether, [br]human included, is just 0.3%.

0:02:58.143,0:03:05.163
So it's unbelievable that we don't know,[br]actually, how these plants work

0:03:05.303,0:03:12.173
and we are all the time underestimating[br]their amazing abilities.

0:03:12.962,0:03:18.512
Well, let's have a look at the beginning,[br]how a plant is made.

0:03:18.752,0:03:21.782
A plant is a sessile organism.

0:03:21.782,0:03:24.562
Sessile means that it cannot move.

0:03:24.562,0:03:27.592
The plants cannot move [br]from one place to the other.

0:03:27.592,0:03:30.882
But they can move a lot.

0:03:31.582,0:03:33.982
Ops, I'm sorry, I do not know [br]what's happened.

0:03:33.982,0:03:38.792
And the second, the second point [br]is that plants have no organs.

0:03:39.033,0:03:43.953
This is an unbelievable difference[br]with the animals.

0:03:44.423,0:03:49.313
So I mean - animals [br]concentrate specific functions

0:03:49.313,0:03:51.383
inside specific organs.

0:03:51.383,0:03:55.463
So we have eyes to see, [br]we have lungs for breathing,

0:03:55.463,0:03:58.463
we have the stomach to digest and so on.

0:03:58.603,0:04:02.103
But the plants evolved [br]not to have any organs,

0:04:02.103,0:04:04.953
because having an organ is too dangerous,

0:04:04.953,0:04:10.103
for plants that have to be predated, [br]to be eated by animals.

0:04:10.103,0:04:14.213
So you can imagine [br]that a single insect,

0:04:14.213,0:04:19.223
just eating a little bit of your brain[br]would be enough to kill you, no?

0:04:19.413,0:04:22.923
Ah, so this is why the plants [br]have no organs.

0:04:22.923,0:04:28.173
But, having no organs doesn't mean[br]that they have not the function.

0:04:28.253,0:04:30.053
This is an important point.

0:04:30.053,0:04:33.413
In other words, plants are able[br]to see without eyes,

0:04:33.413,0:04:35.943
they are able to hear without hearing,

0:04:35.943,0:04:39.353
they are able to taste, and to smell,

0:04:39.353,0:04:43.043
and to breath without the organs.

0:04:43.043,0:04:46.293
And they are also able[br]to make calculations,

0:04:46.293,0:04:49.413
memorize, learn without brain.

0:04:50.325,0:04:53.425
Now the point about plants[br]is that they cannot move.

0:04:53.425,0:04:55.375
But actually, they move a lot.[br]

0:04:55.375,0:04:58.435
There are passive movements in plants,

0:04:58.435,0:05:00.755
like in this pine cone, no?

0:05:00.755,0:05:03.645
The opening and the closing [br]of a pine cone,

0:05:03.645,0:05:09.135
that has been used for the production[br]of new passive materials.

0:05:09.249,0:05:15.499
Or, this very nice Erodium cicutarium.

0:05:15.519,0:05:18.469
This is a seed, that you can see.

0:05:18.469,0:05:23.129
Just with the change[br]in the humidity it's turning,

0:05:23.129,0:05:28.799
and uses this ability[br]to enter in the soil,

0:05:29.669,0:05:34.909
and so it's like a spermatozoa, [br]it works very well,

0:05:34.909,0:05:40.749
and you can see that some of them [br]are also able to enter in the soil.

0:05:40.779,0:05:42.709
Now, what is amazing about that

0:05:42.709,0:05:46.189
is that they do this [br]without using any energy.

0:05:47.288,0:05:52.028
So they have no muscles,[br]look, it was able to enter.

0:05:52.654,0:05:56.774
So, they use no energy,[br]they have no muscles,

0:05:56.774,0:06:01.584
and it's just the way the material is made

0:06:01.774,0:06:05.994
that is amazing, that makes possible[br]this wonderful movement.

0:06:06.258,0:06:11.398
Of course, there are active movements,[br]some of them are very fast,

0:06:11.398,0:06:16.808
like in the case of the venus flytrap, [br]dionea, it's a carnivorous plant,

0:06:17.358,0:06:20.948
we know that it's a very[br]fast movement.

0:06:20.948,0:06:27.478
Many of them can be exhibited

0:06:27.478,0:06:32.428
just by making a faster -[br]the time lapse,

0:06:32.703,0:06:35.293
the so called... the time lapse technique.

0:06:35.293,0:06:37.673
And so we can see this graceful movement

0:06:37.673,0:06:42.013
like in this case, [br]this a young bean moving,

0:06:42.013,0:06:45.863
it's just three hours of time,[br]it's not a week.

0:06:46.283,0:06:49.673
So the plants move a lot, [br]and we can see here,

0:06:49.673,0:06:52.723
this growing of some flowers, no?

0:06:53.220,0:06:58.720
They grow altogether and even[br]this growing together is important,

0:06:58.780,0:07:03.870
because it's an important moment [br]of their social life.

0:07:03.870,0:07:08.570
So they are really learning [br]how to stay together

0:07:08.570,0:07:11.770
during this first phase of their life.

0:07:15.989,0:07:21.689
And now I would like to put [br]our argumentation a little bit further.

0:07:22.276,0:07:25.766
Can we tell that plants [br]are conscious organisms?

0:07:26.227,0:07:28.877
So because I'm pretty sure [br]that they are intelligent,

0:07:28.877,0:07:30.767
I will not discuss with you about that.

0:07:31.315,0:07:35.765
Plants are intelligent, [br]and they are able to solve problems,

0:07:35.825,0:07:39.425
and this is my preferred[br]definition of intelligence.

0:07:39.959,0:07:42.639
Now the point is, are plants conscious?

0:07:42.679,0:07:49.209
Consciousness is - are plants aware of [br]their position in the environment?

0:07:49.289,0:07:54.079
So, it's a problem to find [br]right definitions about consciousness.

0:07:54.079,0:07:57.859
It's normally defined[br]by removing something.

0:07:58.849,0:08:02.469
Michio Kaku is a quite famous physicist.

0:08:02.690,0:08:07.690
And he wrote recently this book[br]"The Future of The Mind,"

0:08:07.745,0:08:12.985
and as a physicist, he gave [br]a definition of consciousness

0:08:12.985,0:08:15.185
that's quite understandable.

0:08:16.167,0:08:18.818
Michio Kaku: Consciousness is

0:08:18.818,0:08:23.478
the number of feedback loops [br]required to create a model

0:08:23.478,0:08:28.298
of your position in space, [br]with relationship to other organisms,

0:08:28.299,0:08:31.399
and finally in relationship to time.

0:08:31.469,0:08:37.649
Stefano: So, consciousness is just [br]your ability to build a model of yourself

0:08:37.679,0:08:42.409
in relation to the space, [br]to the other organisms, and to the time.

0:08:42.579,0:08:44.249
Are plants able to do that?

0:08:44.249,0:08:45.709
OK. Let's have a look.

0:08:45.792,0:08:46.982
First of all ...

0:08:46.982,0:08:50.262
Michio Kaku: So think[br]of the consciousness of a thermostat.

0:08:50.294,0:08:55.554
I believe that even a lowly thermostat [br]has one unit of consciousness.

0:08:55.568,0:08:59.248
That is, it senses[br]the temperature around it.

0:08:59.286,0:09:00.786
And then we have a flower,

0:09:00.786,0:09:04.736
a flower has maybe, [br]ten units of consciousness.

0:09:04.736,0:09:09.826
It has to understand the temperature,[br]the weather, humidity,

0:09:09.826,0:09:11.666
where gravity is pointing.

0:09:11.666,0:09:15.386
Stefano: Well, so,[br]for Michio Kaku, the sensing, no?

0:09:15.386,0:09:18.106
It's the first level of consciousness.

0:09:19.586,0:09:25.456
Plants are unbelievably more[br]sensitive than animals.

0:09:25.994,0:09:29.384
A single plant is able to detect

0:09:29.384,0:09:34.734
at least 20 different chemical [br]and physical parameters all the time.

0:09:35.187,0:09:40.387
Among them, there are all the --[br]our common sense, let's say,

0:09:40.599,0:09:43.489
but also something a little bit strange,

0:09:43.489,0:09:49.859
as electrical gradient,[br]chemical gradient, magnetic fields,

0:09:50.668,0:09:54.168
and, or, heavy metals[br]and so on, pathogens.

0:09:54.683,0:09:57.813
So we know that plants, for example,

0:09:57.813,0:10:00.393
are very sensitive to gravity.

0:10:00.470,0:10:05.041
And as every living organism [br]on the Earth,

0:10:05.041,0:10:10.311
we can see here maize [br]growing according to gravity.

0:10:10.682,0:10:17.732
But it's less well known that plants[br]are also able to sense vibrations.

0:10:18.057,0:10:22.057
And so we can see here [br]how the roots of the plants

0:10:22.057,0:10:24.717
grow toward the source of sound.

0:10:25.439,0:10:30.689
So they are able to sense the sound, [br]and they are able to grow

0:10:30.699,0:10:32.759
toward the source of the sound.

0:10:32.759,0:10:36.729
And also, they are able to [br]produce a sound.

0:10:36.729,0:10:37.729
(Clicking)

0:10:37.729,0:10:43.729
This kind of click is very amplified sound

0:10:43.749,0:10:48.570
of a growing ... growing roots.

0:10:49.410,0:10:52.250
So, when the roots during -

0:10:52.250,0:10:55.980
this is just in real time, [br]so it's few times, few seconds.

0:10:56.117,0:11:01.517
A growing root is producing[br]specific sounds

0:11:01.517,0:11:07.897
that probably are used [br]by the other root apex,

0:11:07.897,0:11:11.877
to have information about[br]the position of the roots in the soil.

0:11:11.877,0:11:17.297
Well, let's go on to the second point,

0:11:17.297,0:11:21.027
to the first level [br]of consciousness, space.

0:11:21.027,0:11:23.937
Michio Kaku: And then finally[br]we go into the reptilian brain,

0:11:23.937,0:11:26.607
which I call level-one consciousness,

0:11:26.607,0:11:29.357
and reptiles basically have [br]a very good understanding

0:11:29.357,0:11:31.077
of their position in space.

0:11:31.110,0:11:34.260
Especially because they have to[br]lunge out, and grab pray.

0:11:34.481,0:11:39.301
Stefano: OK, so, reptiles are [br]very well aware of the space.

0:11:39.301,0:11:42.921
Is this the same for the plants?[br]Let's have a look.

0:11:43.010,0:11:46.150
This is a, uh, this is a cuscuta plant.

0:11:46.150,0:11:48.710
Cuscuta plant is a parasitic plant

0:11:48.803,0:11:54.213
that needs to find a host [br]in a very short time before dying.

0:11:54.253,0:11:58.343
And you can see how this plant[br]is immediately directing

0:11:58.343,0:12:03.769
towards the tomato plant, finds it[br]

0:12:03.769,0:12:07.089
and parasitising the tomato plant.

0:12:07.089,0:12:11.189
Well, this is quite trivial.

0:12:11.189,0:12:15.779
It's just a chemical driving [br]the information up to the plant.

0:12:15.779,0:12:17.809
It's volatile.

0:12:17.809,0:12:19.789
But, look at this case.

0:12:19.789,0:12:23.739
This is the same plant [br]that has to take a decision,

0:12:23.739,0:12:27.189
because it's in the middle,[br]between wheat and tomato.

0:12:27.795,0:12:31.955
And all the time, it's choosing tomato.

0:12:31.999,0:12:36.119
Well, because tomato, it's[br]much much easier to parasitise.

0:12:36.737,0:12:40.017
But if there is no tomato, [br]even wheat can work.

0:12:41.140,0:12:44.320
OK, and this is something simple.

0:12:44.320,0:12:47.900
Let's, let's do something [br]a little bit more curious.

0:12:48.490,0:12:54.840
This is a bean in my lab[br]and this is a support. [br]

0:12:56.288,0:13:00.778
You can see how it is moving,[br]for reaching the support.

0:13:00.778,0:13:07.598
So I mean, this plant knows exactly[br]where the support is, the pole is.

0:13:08.194,0:13:12.464
And it's trying to do[br]all its best for reaching it.

0:13:12.474,0:13:14.834
I don't know if you can see,

0:13:14.834,0:13:18.544
but the apex of the shoots[br]already made a kind of hook

0:13:18.843,0:13:25.563
in the right position, even if the plant[br]didn't touch until now, the support.

0:13:26.067,0:13:30.427
And you can see also the movement,

0:13:30.557,0:13:35.467
it's a wonderful movement. [br]It's just, in this case, just passive,

0:13:35.507,0:13:41.767
just based on multi traders, [br]look at the hook, in the apex.

0:13:42.097,0:13:45.653
And, almost ...

0:13:46.563,0:13:47.733
Eh?

0:13:47.733,0:13:51.213
Another try, and it's not enough.

0:13:51.213,0:13:57.143
And you can almost feel the effort, no?

0:13:57.393,0:14:01.523
And, and look at the leaves now, [br]that they reach the support.

0:14:01.523,0:14:06.553
Now, it's much much quieter, calmer.

0:14:07.641,0:14:12.761
Anyway, so we know that the bean[br]is aware of the pole.

0:14:12.761,0:14:17.231
OK? It's the result of something [br]more impressive

0:14:17.231,0:14:22.361
because, look in this case,[br]I am putting a pole among two beans.

0:14:22.361,0:14:24.732
So, there is the sensing phase.

0:14:24.732,0:14:28.352
They know there is a pole[br]and they start to compete.

0:14:29.292,0:14:33.362
And look when the first one[br]is winning, the winner,

0:14:33.362,0:14:35.672
the other one changes direction.

0:14:38.812,0:14:43.082
So, you can repeat [br]this experiment 100 times,

0:14:43.112,0:14:47.652
and 100 times you will get [br]the same result.

0:14:48.284,0:14:54.354
So, this means that the second plant [br]is not just aware of the support,

0:14:54.484,0:14:58.149
it's also aware of another[br]organism, of another plant,

0:14:58.271,0:15:03.711
and it is aware of what [br]the other plant is able to do. OK?

0:15:04.669,0:15:06.799
Great. Social life.

0:15:07.606,0:15:11.236
Michio Kaku: Then we have level-two [br]consciousness, the monkey consciousness.

0:15:11.236,0:15:14.587
The consciousness of emotions, [br]social hierarchy.

0:15:14.587,0:15:17.407
Where are we in relationship to the tribe?

0:15:17.407,0:15:20.457
Stefano: OK. I don't want to [br]spend too much time,

0:15:20.457,0:15:23.947
because the social life of the plants[br]is very well known.

0:15:23.947,0:15:26.947
Plants are social organisms,

0:15:26.947,0:15:33.597
at any level of their evolution, [br]from Chlamydomonas -

0:15:33.727,0:15:39.540
this is a single algae, unicellular algae[br]that shows weird behaviour.

0:15:39.540,0:15:44.710
So, a kind of social movement [br]like the one of the hands.

0:15:50.162,0:15:54.782
These winged shoots, look how[br]they oscillate altogether.

0:15:55.445,0:16:00.995
OK, this is a, this is something[br]very easy to do, but it's not easy at all.

0:16:01.273,0:16:05.273
You need to be in sync[br]with your neighbor to do this,

0:16:05.273,0:16:10.383
so you need to be well aware of what [br]the movement of your neighbors are.

0:16:11.562,0:16:15.905
And kin recognition.

0:16:15.905,0:16:19.505
It's something unbelievably interesting.

0:16:19.505,0:16:24.795
So we know that today [br]that plants have different behaviour

0:16:24.795,0:16:28.875
according to the degree [br]of relativeness of the other plants.

0:16:29.485,0:16:36.265
So, normally, for example, beans, [br]the very common bean, are cooperating,

0:16:36.265,0:16:39.775
when they are in the same pot, [br]they are related.

0:16:40.291,0:16:44.601
But when the two plants are unrelated,[br]they are normally competing.

0:16:46.855,0:16:54.455
And, in a wood, it's a huge network

0:16:54.483,0:16:57.943
of plants interacting each other.

0:16:57.943,0:17:04.043
For example, we know that -[br]this is a graph showing that a single tree

0:17:04.043,0:17:08.613
is linked to 47 different trees, [br]and they use

0:17:08.793,0:17:14.353
this network for sharing information,

0:17:14.353,0:17:18.803
for sharing even food and water,[br]nutrients and water.

0:17:18.886,0:17:25.476
Well, there is much more with plants.

0:17:25.476,0:17:31.846
We have not too much[br]time to show all of the -

0:17:31.846,0:17:34.026
the wonderful things about plants.

0:17:34.026,0:17:36.186
Plants, for example, are able to memorize.

0:17:36.393,0:17:38.723
They are able to memorize and to learn.

0:17:39.161,0:17:43.331
We demonstrated just a few months ago [br]that it's possible to teach

0:17:43.331,0:17:46.811
a mimosa sensitive plant [br]not to close anymore

0:17:46.811,0:17:49.691
when there is a non dangerous stimulus.

0:17:50.146,0:17:57.036
And, this sensitive plant is able to [br]maintain the information for 40 days.

0:17:57.036,0:18:02.346
So I mean, the memory lasts [br]at least 40 days. That is a lot.

0:18:02.880,0:18:07.840
And in the average, the memory [br]of an insect is just 24 hours.

0:18:08.510,0:18:11.680
Even for me, 40 days is a lot.

0:18:11.680,0:18:12.750
(Laughter)

0:18:12.750,0:18:18.230
And so, it's amazing to see that

0:18:18.230,0:18:20.940
plants are able to[br]maintain information for so long.

0:18:21.407,0:18:24.827
And, just a last thing.

0:18:25.067,0:18:27.937
From my point of view,[br]

0:18:27.937,0:18:32.877
intelligence and consciousness are[br]real biological phenomenons.

0:18:33.267,0:18:35.917
So they can be studied, as real,

0:18:35.917,0:18:39.697
they need to be studied as [br]real biological phenomenons.

0:18:40.096,0:18:43.046
And it's something[br]like reproduction, I mean,

0:18:43.046,0:18:49.146
reproduction is completely different [br]in bacteria, phangiae, and humans. OK?

0:18:49.356,0:18:53.466
But there is a common background [br]

0:18:53.466,0:18:57.096
that means that the phenomenon [br]is reproduction,

0:18:57.096,0:19:02.346
it's the same for intelligence, [br]it's different, but always the same.

0:19:02.634,0:19:03.714
Thank you very much.

0:19:03.714,0:19:05.951
(Applause)