miércoles, 5 de enero de 2011

"Primera Historia del Año - Un Calendario"

Primera nota interesante del 2011... Viene bien, además, pues estaba pensando en un "Calendario Back To Eden", que ahora puede incluír la historia siguiente:

Mujer amamanta a Mono. Tras ser abandonado por su madre, un bebé Mono Araña requería de leche materna para sobrevivir y la esposa de un veterinario, la cual estaba criando a su hijo, decidió darle el pecho para evitar su muerte.
En una tierna historia de instinto maternal, la esposa de un veterinario del zoológico de Guangzhou, en China, aceptó la lactancia de un pequeño Mono Araña para evitar que éste muriera. El bebé había sido abandonado por su madre, por razones que aún no se logran explicar y el pequeño requería ser amamantado, para sobrevivir.





Vista la situación la esposa del veterinario residente, quen recientemente había dado a luz, intercedió por la vida del Mono y decidió compartir con él la leche que estaba dando a su hijo recien nacido.
Curiosamente no es la primera vez que una mujer se ofrece de voluntaria para dar el pecho a un animal de un zoológico en China. Hace unos años dos Osos Panda huérfanos requerían de leche materna y otra mujer se ofreció a alimentarlos.
En ambos casos, el gesto maternal fue efectivo ya que tanto los Panda como el bebé Mono Araña crecieron sanos. Y ahora la mujer del veterinario tiene la satisfacción de haber salvado a uno de los 3,500 Monos Araña de esta especie, que quedan en el mundo.
El Calendario, entonces, sería este:


1/1: Mujer amamanta un Mono en Zangzhou

1/3: Lea, la Leona Napolitana - 11/3: Thelma (por todas las Gatas que adoptaron Ratas) - 20/3: El Pez Que Habló

3/4: La Leona Kamunyak (tiene en su historia muchos días memorables pero ese 3 de Abril luchó casi hasta la muerte por una pequeña Oryx)

14/4: Madre India que adoptó un Venado - 19/4: Sally la Ratoncita (mejor busquen la historia ustedes mismos en la entrada que habla de Thelma)

1/5: Dharma (Perra que adoptó Ardillitas y Gatitos) - 5/5: George el Terrier (murió defendiendo a unos niños de unos Perros) - 12/5: Mona que adoptó a un Perrito) - 14/5: Daisy (Perra que adoptó o ayudó a 45 Gatitos) - 26/5: Musya (Gata que aceptó criar dos Lobeznos) - 27/5: Perra en India que adoptó a un Mono

9/6: Leones (ayudan a una joven en Etiopía) - 20/6: Foca que salva a un Perro en un río.

10/7: St. Cristóbal - 12/7: Venado y Tigres que quieren estar juntos en un Zoológico - 15/7: Patches (por todas las Gatas que adoptaron Ratones) - 23/7: Hiroko (Gata que adoptó Patitos)

12/8: Gata en Canadá (adoptó Zorritos) - 22/8: San Guinefort- 26/8: Ginny de long Island (ayudó a cientos -o miles- de Gatos callejeros y enfermos) - 29/8: Mujer en India que amamantó a un Becerro

1/9: Tyke (la Leona Vegetariana) - 7/9: Gata que crió a 7 Ardillitas con sus 5 Gatitos

5/10: Día Mundial de los Animales - 7/10: Namita Dass (amamantó a un Mono en 2001) - 15/10: Vaca y Leopardo de Antoli que se reunían de noche - 29/10: Janine Hammond (amamantó a su Gato, a un Conejillo de Indias y a un Potrillo)

8/11: Vaca de India que amamantó a un niño - 9/11: Kine Skiaker (en Noruega, amamantó a seis Perritos huérfanos) - 19/11: Coneja que adoptó a seis Gatitos - 25/11: Linda (en España, Perra que adoptó a seis Cerditos)

4/12: Sai Mai (en Tailandia, Tigresa que amamantó a muchos Cerditos) - 14/12: Legadema (Madre Leopardo que intentó criar a un Babuino recién nacido) - 24/12: El Lobo de Gubbio
...Y seguramente podré agregarle más días!

martes, 21 de diciembre de 2010

"Navidad Planetaria (O Universal)"

Haciendo apenas un poco de historia, con esto de mandar mensajes y saludos a otras partes del mundo.... Algunos de los que "sólo vieron las últimas computadoras hogareñas" tal vez no sepan que hasta el año 1970 del S.XX eran comunes los aparatos de onda corta (ahora no se usa mucho ese sistema en radiodifusión). Esos aparatitos podían oír cosas de Inglaterra igual a como ahora se captan desde Argentina vía internet. Lo que importa para esta entrada, es ver si todos los saludos pueden llegar a todas las regiones del mundo, o si por el contrario en Samoa o el centro del Amazonas no tienen forma de recibirlos. Este año, entonces, con una pequeña ayuda del "Gran Internet", los saludos de Navidad y Fin de Año deberían poder llegar por lo menos hasta Saturno (Y tal vez debería decir muchos años luz más allá).

Afrikaans - Geseënde Kersfees
Akeanon (Philippines) - Maayad-ayad nga Paskwa
Albanian - Gëzuar Krishtlindjet e Vitin e Ri
Aleut - Kamgan Ukudigaa
Alsatian - E güeti Wïnâchte
Amharic (North Central Ethiopia) - Melkam Gena. Merry Christmas
Apache (Western) - Gozhqq Keshmish
Arabic (Modern Standard) - أجمل التهاني بمناسبة الميلاد و حلول السنة الجديدة (ajmil at-tihānī bimunāsabah al-mīlād wa ḥilūl as-sanah al-jadīdah)
Armenian (Eastern) - Շնորհավոր Ամանոր և Սուրբ Ծնունդ (Shnorhavor Amanor yev Surb Tznund)
Armenian (Western) - Շնորհաւոր Նոր Տարի եւ Սուրբ Ծնունդ (Shnorhavor Nor Daree yev Soorp Dzuhnoont)
Aromanian (Southeastern Europe) - Cãrciun hãrios
Asturian - Bones Navidaes y Gayoleru añu nuevu!
Aymara - Sooma Nawira-ra
Azerbaijani - Yeni Iliniz Mübarək
Basque - Zorionak eta urte berri on

Belarusian - З Божым нараджэннем (Z Bozym naradzenniem)
Bengali - শুভ বড়দিন (shubho bôṛodin)
Bhojpuri (north-central, eastern India) - शुभ क्रिसमस और शुभ नव वर्ष (subh krismas auur subh nav varsh)
Bikol (Central Philippine) - Maogmang Pasko
Blackfoot (Montana) - (i'taamomahkatoyiiksistsikomi)
Bosnian - Sretan Bozic i sretna nova godina
Breton - Nedeleg laouen ha bloavezh mat
Bulgarian - Честита Коледа (Čestita Koleda)
Catalan - Bon Nadal i feliç any nou
Cebuano (Philippines) - Maayong Pasko
Chamorro (Guam, Marianas) - Felis Nåbidåt yan Magof na Åñu Nuebu!
Cherokee - Danistayohihv; Aliheli'sdi Itse Udetiyvasadisv
Cheyenne - Hoesenestotse; Aa'eEmona'e
Chinese

(Cantonese) - singdaanjit tùhng sànnìhn faailohk
(Mandarin) - shèngdàn kuàilè xīnnián kuàilè
(Shanghainese) sendaijiq kualoq

(Taiwanese) - Sèng-tàn-chiat Khòai-lok - Merry Christmas
(Teochew) - siandang kuailak
Choctaw (Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana) - Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito
Comanche - Tsaa Nuusukatu Waa Himaru
Cornish (United Kingdom) - Nadelik Lowen ha Blydhen Nowydh Da
Cree (Canada) - Mitho Makosi Kesikansi
Creek (Oklahoma) - Afvcke Nettvcakorakko
Croatian - Sretan Božić!
Czech - Veselé vánoce a šťastný nový rok
Danish - Glædelig jul og godt nytår
Dutch - Prettige kerstdagen, Zalig kerstfeest
East Inuktitut (Canada, Greenland, Alaska and Siberia) - Quviasummi Quviasugitsi
Elvish - Ná merye i turuhalmeri!
Estonian - Rõõmsaid Jõule
Faroese - Gleðilig Jól og eydnuríkt nýggjár
Fijian - Me Nomuni na marau ni siga ni sucu kei na tawase ni yabaki vou
Filipino - Maligayang pasko at manigong bagong taon!
Finnish - Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta
Flemish (Flanders, Middle Dutch) - Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar
Frisian (Netherlands) - Noflike Krystdagen en folle lok en seine
French - Joyeux Noël et bonne année
Friulian (North Italy) - Bon Nadâl e Biel An Gnûv!
Galician - Bo Nadal e próspero aninovo
Georgian - გილოცავთ შობა-ახალ წელს (gilocavth shoba-akhal c’els)
German - Fröhliche Weihnachten
German (Swiss) - Schöni Fäschttäg
Greek - Καλά Χριστούγεννα! (Kalá hristúyenna)
Greenlandic - Juullimi Ukiortaassamilu Pilluarit
Guinea-Bissau Creole - Bom Natal ku boas entradas, pa ano entrano diritu
Gujarati (Indo-Aryan language) - સાલ મુબારક (sāl mūbārak)
Hausa (West Africa) - barka da Kirsimatikuma barka da sabuwar shekara
Hawaiian - Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hauʻoli Makahiki Hou
Hebrew - חג מולד שמח ושנה טובה (Chag Molad Sameach v'Shanah Tovah)
Hiligaynon (Philippines) - Malipayon nga Paskwa
Hindi - शुभ क्रिसमस (Śubh krisamas)
Hungarian - Kellemes karácsonyt és boldog új évet
Icelandic - Gleðileg jól og farsælt komandi ár
Ilokano (Philippines) - Naragsak a Paskua
Indonesian - Selamat hari natal dan tahun baru
Inonhan ( Philippines) - Malipayon nga Paskwa
Inuktitut (Canada, Greenland, Alaska and Siberia) - Kuvianak Inovia
Iñupiaq (Alaska) - Quvianagli Anaiyyuniqpaliqsi suli Nakuuluni Ukiutqiutiqsi
Inupiatun (Alaska) - Annaurri Aniruq-lu Paglaun Ukiutchiaq!
Irish (Gaelic) - Nollaig shona duit (Happy Christmas to you)
Italian - Buon Natale e felice anno nuovo
Japanese - merī kurisumasu
Javanese - Sugeng Riyạyạ Natal lan Warsạ Énggal
Jèrriais (Channel Island of Jersey) - Bouan Noué
Judeo-Spanish / Ladino - Noel alegre
Kapampangan (Luzon) - Masayang Pasku
Kazakh - Жаңа жыл құтты болсын! (Jaña jıl quttı bolsın!)
Kinyarwanda (Rwanda) - Noheri nziza n'umwaka mushya muhire!
Kirghiz - Жаратканнын туысымен Жана Жылыныз кутты болсын (Žaratkannyi tuysymen Žana Žylynyz kutty bolsyn)
Klingon - QISmaS DatIvjaj 'ej DIS chu' DatIvjaj
Korean - jeulgeoun seongtanjeol bonaesigo saehae bok manhi bateusaeyo
Kurdish (Kurmanji) - Kirîsmes u ser sala we pîroz be
Kurdish (Sorani) - Kirîsmes u salî nwêtan lê pîroz bê
Lao - Souksan van Christmas
Latin - Natale hilare et annum faustum
Latvian - Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus un laimīgu Jauno gadu
Lithuanian - Linksmų Kalėdų ir laimingų Naujųjų Metų
Luganda (Uganda) - Mbagaliza Christmass Enungi Nomwaka Omugya Gubaberere Gwamirembe
Luxembourgish - E schéine Chrëschtdag an e glécklecht neit Joer
Macedonian - Христос се роди! (Hristoc se rodi!) - Christ is born
Malagasy - Mirary noely sambatra
Malay - Selamat Hari Natal (Christmas)
Malayalam (India) - പുഥുവല്സര ആശംസകല് (puthuvalsara aashamsakal) - Christmas
Maltese - Il-Milied Ħieni u s-Sena t-Tajba
Manx - Nollick Ghennal as Blein Vie Noa
Māori - Meri Kirihimete me ngā mihi o te tau hou ki a koutou katoa
Marathi (India) - शुभ नाताळ (Śubh Nātāḷ)
नवीन वर्षच्या हार्दिक शुभेच्छा (Navīn varṣacyā hārdik śubhecchā)
Mongolian - Танд зул сарын баярын болон шинэ жилийн мэндийг хүргэе (Tand zul sariin bayriin bolon shine jiliin mendiig hurgey)
Navajo - Ya'at'eeh Keshmish
Na'vi - lefpom trr, fpom srekamtxon [lɛ.ˈfpom tṛ fpom sɾɛ.ˈkam.t'on] - Happy Day, peace before midnight (Lo mejor que pude hacer, para que el saludo también estuviera en este idioma).
Nepali - क्रस्मसको शुभकामना तथा नयाँ वर्षको शुभकामना (krismas ko subhakamana tatha nayabarsha ko subhakamana)
Norwegian - God jul og godt nytt år (Bokmål)
Occitan (Southern France) - Polit Nadal e bona annada
Ogoni (southeast Nigeria) - Eenyie Mea Krist Ne Eenyie Aagbaa
Old English - Glæd Geol and Gesælig Niw Gear
Pangasinan (Philippines) - Maabig ya Pasko
Papiamentu (Curazao, Bonaire, Aruba) - Bon Pasku i Felis Anja Nobo
Persian - كریسمس مبارک (kerismas mobārak)
Polish - Wesołych świąt i szczęśliwego nowego roku
Portuguese - Feliz Natal e próspero ano novo
Punjabi (India) - ਕਰਿਸਮ ਤੇ ਨਵਾੰ ਸਾਲ ਖੁਸ਼ਿਯਾੰਵਾਲਾ ਹੋਵੇ (karisama te nawāṃ sāla khušayāṃwālā hewe)
Quenya - Alassëa Hristomerendë! Alassëa Vinyarië!
Rarotongan (Cook Islands) - Kia orana e kia manuia rava i teia Kiritimeti e te Mataiti Ou
Romansh (Swiss canton of Grisons) - Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal ed in bien niev onn!
Romanian - Crăciun fericit şi un An Nou Fericit
Russian - С Рождеством Христовым (S Roždestvom Khristovym)

Samoan - Manuia le Kerisimasi, ma le Tausaga Fou
Scots (Lowland Scotland, Ulster) - A Blythe Yule an a Guid Hogmanay
Scottish Gaelic - Nollaig chridheil agus bliadhna mhath ùr
Serbian - Христос се роди (Hristos se rodi) - Christ is born
Ваистину се роди (Vaistinu se rodi) - truly born (reply)
Sesotho (Austral Africa) - Keresemese e monate le mahlohonolo a selemo se setjha

Sicilian - Bon Natali e filici annu novu
Sindarin - Mereth Veren e-Doled Eruion! Garo Idhrinn Eden Veren!
Sinhala ( Sri Lanka) - (subha natthalak)
Slovak - Veselé vianoce a Štastný nový rok
Slovenian - Vesel božič in srečno novo leto
Somali - Ciid wanaagsan iyo sanad cusub oo fiican
Spanish - ¡Feliz Navidad y próspero año nuevo!
Swahili (Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Congo) - Krismasi Njema / Heri ya krismas
Swedish - God jul och gott nytt år
Tagalog (Philippines) - Maligayang Pasko, Manigong bagong taon
Tamil - கிறிஸ்துமஸ் மற்றும் இனிய புத்தாண்டு வாழ்த்துக்கள் (Christmas matrum puthaandu vaazthukkal)
Tahitian - Ia orana no te noere
Telugu (southern India) - సంతోషకరమైన క్రిస్ఠ్మస్ ! (saṅthoashakaramaina kristmas)
Tetum (Austronesian) - Ksolok loron natal nian no Boas entradas!
Thai - สุขสันต์วันคริสต์มาส และสวัสดีปีใหม่ (sùk săn wan-krít-mâat láe sà-wàt-dee bpee mài)
Tibetan - Losar La Tashi Delek - Happy New Year
Tigrinya (Ethiopia) - rHus beˋal ldet (ygberelka))
Tongan - Kilisimasi fiefia mo ha ta'u fo'ou monū'ia
Tsotsil (Chiapas) - Xmuyubajuk ti avo'one ti ta k'ine xchu'uk ti ta ach' jabile
Turkish - İyi Noeller ve Mutlu Yıllar
Tuscarora (Canada, United States) - Ujhenetya Kriswen tihsne? Nu Yah!!
Ukrainian - Веселого Різдва і з Новим Роком (Veseloho Rizdva i z Novym Rokom)
Urdu (Pakistan, India) - کرسمَس مبارک 'Merry Christmas' = (krismas mubarak)
Uyghur (Eastern, Central Asia) - يىڭى يىلىڭىزغا مۇبارەك بولسۇن - Merry Christmas - (rojistiwa bayrimingizge mubarek bolsun)
Uzbek - Yangi yilingiz bilan! (Happy New Year)
Vietnamese - Chúc Giáng Sinh Vui Vẻ và Chúc Năm Mới Tốt Lành
Volapük - Lemotöfazäli yofik e nulayeli läbik
Võro (south-eastern Estonia) - Hüvvä joulu ja õnnõlikku vahtsõt aastakka
Waray-Waray (Mindanao) - Maupay nga Pasko
Welsh - Nadolig llawen a blwyddyn newydd dda
West Inuktitun - Quvianaq Qitchirvik/Quviahugitsi Quviahugvingmi amma Quvianaq Ukiuaq Nutaaq Tikingmivuq!
Xhosa (Botswana) - Siniqwenelela Ikrisimesi Emnandi Nonyaka Omtsha Ozele Iintsikelelo
Yiddish - אַ פֿרײליכע ניטל און אַ גוטער נײַער יאָר (A freylikhe nitl un a guter nayer yor)
Yorùbá (West Africa) - Ẹ ku Ayọ Keresimesi ati Ọdun Tuntun
Zulu (South Africa) - Ngikufisela uKhisimusi oMuhle noNyaka oMusha oNempumelelo

lunes, 6 de diciembre de 2010

"Arashi No Yoru Ni" - Some artists

Images from one of my favorite japanese movies,
the pictures made by different artists;
representing the same innocent,
strong, and honest relationship
between two very different souls.


"Are You Over There...? Gabu...?"
eronine - deviantart

"I'm Always Close To You!"
kinah - digital dreams


"True Smiles Come From True Friends"
chibi9 - digital dreams

"I Know, I'm Just Enjoying This Moment"
edgar corona - digital dreams


"Stay Here, Baby Mei..."
insomniacawake - digital dreams


"In The Calm Of Our Shelter"
glad_sad - deviantart

"Sharing The End Of The Winter"
Reverse Alchemist - digital dreams


"Don't Worry, Little Mei"
jerome jacinto - deviantart


"A Big, Perfect Family"
thecheesecracker - deviantart

(Gabu and Mei just found that green forest;
now other evicted Wolves and Goats joined them there)

lunes, 29 de noviembre de 2010

"El Templo De los Tigres De Tailandia"

Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua - Le Temple Des Tigres


En 1999, les habitants d'un petit village de la province de Kanchanaburi en Thailande ont découvert dans la forêt deux bébés Tigres blessés dont les parents avaient été tués par les braconniers.


Ne sachant quoi en faire, ils les ont apportés au temple bouddhiste Wat Pha Luang où ils ont été recueillis et soignés par les moines.
Le "Temple des Tigres" venait de voir le jour.
Depuis de nombreux bébés Tigres orphelins furent emmenés au temple et élevés par les moines y résidant.
Les Tigres sont apprivoisés et habitués à ne manger que de la viande cuite afin d’éviter qu’ils ne développent le goût pour le sang. Ils sont traités comme des membres de la famille du temple.
C’ est un lieu communément considéré comme un sanctuaire pour animaux et un centre de préservation.


Le temple est ouvert aux touristes



Les employées gardent les Tigres sous contrôle et sont prêts a intervenir si les Tigres deviennent agités.
Les visiteurs sont invité à laisser un don si ils désirent être pris en photo avec les Tigres.
C’est le seul endroit au monde ou il est possible de caresser des tigres en liberté.




...Así, al menos en un lugar del mundo se logra lo que todos intentan: proteger a los Tigres de la extinción mientras se aprende a convivir con ellos.


domingo, 14 de noviembre de 2010

Cuando las Criaturas más salvajes...

...Muestran compasión hacia las más débiles,
pueden ocurrir cosas como esta:
O esta...
O tal vez esta...

The helpful Hippo that rescues helpless animals from Mara river

Visitors to a safari camp close to where the film Out Of Africa was shot stood in awe as they witnessed the annual Wildebeest migration.
But as they watched thousands of animals cross the raging Mara river they were astonished to see a Hippo come to the rescue of two drowning stragglers.
The strong current separated a Wildebeest, or Gnu, from her calf and she watched helplessly as it was swept away.
'To everyone's amazement the Hippo came to the Gnu's rescue and pushed it gently to the river bank', said Abdul Karim, the head guide at Sanctuary Olonana in the Masai Mara, Kenya.
The infant panted for a moment before getting up and running to its watching mother.
But the female Hippo's work did not finish there. Within ten minutes she spotted a little Zebra crossing the same stretch of water and pushed it across, its tiny head struggling to keep above the torrent.
'It was an unforgettable incident', said Mr Karim.
Maternal love can be so strong it can even surpass species boundaries', he added.
Huge concentrations of game move between Kenya and Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park every year in the constant search for fresh grazing.





Y también esta:

A Zebra appeared to dice with death by leaning its head into the jaws of a Hippopotamus –but it emerged unscathed after 15 minutes cleaning the mighty mammal's teeth.
The Hippo is one of world's most aggressive animals and can kill with one snap of its powerful jaw.
Visitors to the zoo where both animals live were amazed to see the Zebra craning its neck into the mouth of the water-loving mammal.
But their surprise increased when they realised the striped creature was cleaning the Hippo's teeth.

Si bien en todos estos casos los grandes protagonistas fueron Hipopótamos, seguramente hay muchas demostraciones similares por parte de otras Criaturas.


...Y aquí las tienen. En tres de estas historias, los héroes, o salvadores, son Serpientes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEhJzpfFHFg

http://www.lusakatimes.com/2009/05/18/snake-saves-ndola-woman-from-rapists/

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1109035

http://www.africancrisis.co.za/Article.php?ID=3609&

lunes, 1 de noviembre de 2010

"Our Sweet Last Breath"

Imagen como para una historia de amor
entre una Princesa y un Dragón...
En este momento ella y él acaban de darse
el último adiós mutuamente
y tan felices de haber vivido juntos
como de irse al mismo tiempo.


martes, 5 de octubre de 2010

"What Trees And Plants Still Hadn't Show Us"

Smarty Plants: Inside the World's Only Plant-Intelligence Lab


SESTO FIORENTINO, Italy -Professor Stefano Mancuso knows it isn't easy being green: He runs the world's only laboratory dedicated to plant intelligence.
At the International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology, about seven miles outside Florence, Italy, Mancuso and his team of nine work to debunk the myth that plants are low-life. Research at the modern building combines physiology, ecology and molecular biology.
"If you define intelligence as the capacity to solve problems, plants have a lot to teach us", says Mancuso, dressed in harmonizing shades of his favorite color: green. "Not only are they 'smart' in how they grow, adapt and thrive, they do it without neurones. Intelligence isn't only about having a brain".
Plants have never been given their due in the order of things; they've usually been dismissed as mere vegetables. But there's a growing body of research showing that plants have a lot to contribute in fields as disparate as robotics and telecommunications. For instance, current projects at the LINV include a plant-inspired robot in development for the European Space Agency. The "plantoid" might be used to explore the Martian soil by dropping mechanical "pods" capable of communicating with a central "stem", which would send data back to Earth.
The idea that plants are more than hanging decor at the dentist's office is not new. Charles Darwin published The Power of Movement in Plants -on phototropism and vine behavior- in 1880, but the concept of plant intelligence has been slow to creep into the general consciousness.
At the root of the problem: assuming that plants have, or should have, human-like feelings in order to be considered intelligent life forms, Mancuso says.
After the folksy 1970s hit book and stop-motion film The Secret Life of Plants, which maintained, sans serious research, that greenery had feelings and emotions, the scientific community has avoided talking about smarty plants.
So while there has been a bumper crop of studies demonstrating that green matter can be nearly as sophisticated as gray matter -especially when it comes to signaling and response systems, few talk about intelligence.
To christen the lab in 2004, Mancuso decided to use the controversial term "plant neurobiology" to reinforce the idea that plants have biochemistry, cell biology and electrophysiology similar to the human nervous system. But although LINV is part of the University of Florence -where Mancuso teaches horticulture- funds for this fertile field of research weren't forthcoming.
Studies at LINV were eventually given lymph -1 million euro so far, with about 500,000 euro to come- from the Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, a bank foundation that mainly supports cultural events and art restorations.
What convinced them to provide seed money?
"Looking beyond the name at the research", says Paolo Blasi, a physics professor at the university who's on LINV's board of directors. "It sounds almost like a pseudoscientific field, but now even skeptics are convinced because of the validity of the work".
In addition to studies on the effects of music on vineyards, the center's researchers have also published papers on gravity sensing, plant synapses and long-distance signal transmission in trees. One important offshoot of the research activity is an international symposium on plant neurobiology. Next year's meeting will be held in Japan.
Leopold Summerer, advanced-concepts team coordinator at the European Space Agency, remembers that the term "plant intelligence" raised a few eyebrows when collaboration with the lab was proposed -even on a multidisciplinary think-tank team that's used to pondering ideas out of left field. Nonetheless, Summerer says plant research may provide important ideas.
"Biometrics can provide some of the most inspiring resources for us", he says. "Solutions found by nature that might not seem related to real engineering problems at first sight actually are related and give technical solutions".
Radical as the LINV sounds, if it weren't for a lone sugarcane stalk perched on a cabinet, the lab looks like any other.
While white-coated researcher Luciana Renna patiently tests for DNA markers, molecular biologist Giovanni Stefano analyzes data on two computer monitors around the corner.
During a visit to the lab's two greenhouses -where research is being conducted on the effects of light on olive trees and reactions in Venus flytraps and the Mimosa pudica- Mancuso points out a few neglected office plants sent there for a little TLC.
Mancuso, however, is no plant-whisperer. Under-tended plants are a long way from understanding sweet nothings spoken softly to them, he explains.
"Plants communicate via chemical substances," Mancuso says. "They have a specific and fairly extensive vocabulary to convey alarms, health and a host of other things. We just have sound waves broken down into various languages, I don't see how we could bridge the gap".

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/10/veggie_intelligence


More Examples...


In 1966, Cleve Backster claimed that his Dracena plant could read his mind. More recently, botanists at Penn State University discovered that the five-angled dodder vine could hunt down its prey by scent. In fact, there is evidence to suggest that plants are not only intelligent, but they also communicate this intelligence to the ecosystem.
As Stephen Harrod Buhner states in The Lost Language of Plants (Vermont, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2002), "all things possess a soul, a sacred intelligence or logos" because all things are made from the sacred. Plants have demonstrated versatility with this sacred language. Some believe that man, who used to be able to communicate with plants, has lost touch with this language.
For example, healthy plants can sense what their community's need in terms of soil chemistry; they deliberately increase their production of the missing ingredients and send them into the soil for distribution. Trees that have been cut or injured are supported with nutrients through a network from neighbouring healthy plants.
Moreover, some believe plants know how cry for help. Ecologist Richard Karban of the University of California, Davis, examined this plant version of communication in a 2008 paper in which he details how plants release a complex blend of volatile chemicals when they are attacked by mites. These chemicals attract other insects that prey on these mites. Moreover, the volatile signals are "read" by neighboring plants which immediately "beef up" their own defense mechanism.
If problem-solving is one of the signs of intelligence, then some say plants are very intelligent. The dodder vine mentioned in the introduction of this article knows enough about its surroundings to bypass human throats for tomato stalks, which it embraces tightly before sucking out its juices.
The Amazonian Stilt Palm knows how to track its area for sunlight. Once it has found the right location, it sends out new roots and "de-activates" old roots that have grown in the shade.
Several studies also show that rhizomes know enough to "construct a three-dimensional perspective of their local space... to exploit resources, thus receiving rewards for successful behavior".
Plants can also change their genetic structure when they are under stress, and in a very short period of time, they can produce a highly variant offspring that can adapt to the new environmental demands. Their capacity to learn and adapt, discover solutions to problems attests to their evolutionary advantage –they learn to function within the ecosystem, not against it.


www.suite101.com/.../does-plant-intelligence-exist-a155651

And yet another wonderful fact, though now about trees: if one makes a cut in two trees, confronted, they will turn their trunks so that the cuts be not in front of each other...
With just half of this, we can now consider trees and plants much closer to us than we thought for hundreds of years.
And then, knowing this, maybe respect them all instead of burning, or throwing them down like they were simple and senseless pieces of wood.