If houseplants could talk: communication and the natural world

It’s our listener mail round up, and this week it’s all about communication in the natural world, like: how do migratory animals teach their young how to migrate and where to go? Do sharks smell underwater? And, are plants talking to each other?

Plus, a mini-story about a lost baby squirrel and a Bluetooth speaker.

Take a listen!

1. How do young animals know how to migrate?
2. Can plants talk to each other?
3. What makes an animal a pest?
4. How do shark noses work underwater?

Featuring: Patrik Byholm, Richard Karban, Bethany Brookshire, and Stephen Kajiura.

SUPPORT

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Submit a question to our Outside/Inbox. We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).

LINKS

Visit outsideinradio.org for video of a Bluetooth speaker-assisted baby squirrel rescue.

On animal migration:

• A magnetic compass aids monarch butterfly migration
• Paternal transmission of migration knowledge in a long-distance bird migrant

On plants talking:

• Rumor Has It…: Relay Communication of Stress Cues in Plants
• Towards understanding plant bioacoustics

On what makes an animal a pest:

• The long history of speed at Reuters about carrier pigeons and The Tastiest Bird You Can Legally Eat about the tastiness of pigeon meat, also known as squab
• Burmese Pythons: The Giant Invasive Snake at Risk in Its Native Land

On sharks:

• Check out the Shark Lab at Florida Atlantic University.
• Scientists believe sharks came into existence about 400 million years ago.

CREDITS

Host: Nate Hegyi

Reported and produced by Felix Poon, Jeongyoon Han, Taylor Quimby, and Jessica Hunt

Edited by Taylor Quimby

Rebecca Lavoie is our Executive Producer

Special thanks to Lani Asuncion and Angus Murphy

Music for this episode by Blue Dot Sessions

Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio

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