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When one plant responds to another's airborne chemicals

In experiments with Arabidopsis, exposure to airborne chemicals from damaged plants triggered changes in neighboring plants' calcium signals and stress-related gene activity. A measurable response is different from evidence of an intentional warning.

3–7 min

Questions you could explore

  • What would researchers need to measure to show that one plant responded to another?
  • How could an experiment rule out both plants responding independently to the same damage?

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How does a honey bee dance give directions?

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3–5 min

Finding prey through returning echoes

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