Episode 552 - Talking to plants and how a jellyfish learns

Lagrange Point

How does a jellyfish manage to see and learn without a large central brain? Like the Scarecrow of Oz, jellyfish are a without a brain but are still able to learn and do great feats. How does the nervous system of a jellyfish learn to dodge and avoid obstacles without a big brain? Plants respond to light, but is it possible to communicate with them about upcoming dangers?

1. Jan Bielecki, Sofie Katrine Dam Nielsen, Gösta Nachman, Anders Garm. Associative learning in the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora. Current Biology, 2023; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.08.056
2. Bo Larsen, Roberto Hofmann, Ines S. Camacho, Richard W. Clarke, J Clark Lagarias, Alex R. Jones, Alexander M. Jones. Highlighter: An optogenetic system for high-resolution gene expression control in plants. PLOS Biology, 2023; 21 (9): e3002303 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002303