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Talking Plants

This week we took a diversion from hard-core physics study to learn a little more about plants.

We watched a Nature documentary (even though in general I give anything PBS a wide, wide berth) called “What Plants Talk About” and discovered a new world in our backyard. This program is surprisingly good, discussing plant behaviors without really anthropomorphizing botanical species too much.

For those of you sensitive to discussions of evolution and other ‘godless science’ viewpoints, I think I can count on one hand the number of times someone in the film mentions evolution and even then the focus of the discussion is really on plant behavior and not how they came to be that way. The beautiful complexity and design of the plants this documentary showcases is absolutely stupendous and, if you are inclined this way, it really drives home the idea that an evolutionary hypothesis is laughingly improbable and statistically impractical.

Regardless, your children will gain a totally new appreciation for the plants around them.