In addition to being a wonderful carnivorous plant in its own right, scientists in Germany have discovered something else surprising about the flower of Dionaea muscipula, which generates measurable magnetic fields when its leaves close.

This is the first time that biomagnetism can be measured in plants, despite previous attempts in 2011 that failed.

According to the researchers, this latest study, published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, can teach us a lot about how plant life uses magnetic field signals for communication and as an indicator of disease, something we also see in humans and other animals.

Capture magnetic signals

Plants are known to use electrical signals as a kind of nervous system, but capturing biomagnetism has been very difficult.

In 2011, a study attempted to detect the magnetic field around Amorphophallus titanium, a huge foul-smelling plant, by using atomic magnetometers capable of detecting the smallest fluctuations.

But the study revealed at the time that the plant did not generate any magnetic field greater than a millionth of the strength of the magnetic field surrounding us on Earth, which led to the experiment being considered a failure.

The researchers participating in the 2011 study said their next step, if they did, would be to focus on a smaller plant.

One study attempted to detect the magnetic field around a flower, "Titan Arum" (Sling Moose - Wikipedia)

For the current study, a different group of researchers decided to use an already smaller plant in their new experiment.

"We have been able to demonstrate that action potentials in a multicellular plant system produce magnetic fields," said Anne Fabricant, a physicist from Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz (JGU), in the press release published on the university's website on February 2. Measurable, which has not been confirmed before. "

Action potentials are rapid bursts of electrical activity. The Venus fly trap can have several stimuli to trigger these action potentials, if the plant is touched, injured, affected by heat or cold, or loaded with liquid.

In their study, the researchers used thermal stimulation to activate electrical activity in plants, in addition to a glass cell magnetometer to measure magnetic disturbances.

This method has been very successful, as it reduces background noise to a minimum, and it has advantages over other techniques in that it can be minimized and does not require intense cooling.

Small ripple can be measured

The measured magnetic signals rose to a magnitude of 0.5 picotesla, which is comparable to the nerve impulses fired in humans but millions of times weaker than the Earth's magnetic field. It's a small ripple, but it can be detected.

Fabrikant returns, saying that the investigation is a bit like performing an MRI scan in humans.

The problem is that magnetic signals in plants are very weak, which explains why it is difficult to measure them with the help of ancient techniques.

In humans, magnetic fields can be measured through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, and other techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetic electroencephalography (MEG), which can lead to identifying problems without any difficult procedures.

As for plants, with the help of this current research, this type of survey may now also be possible, as crops can be examined for temperature changes, chemical changes or pests without the need to damage the plants themselves.

"Our results pave the way for an understanding of the molecular basis of biomagnetism in living plants," the researchers wrote in their published paper.

The magnetic signals in plants are very weak, which explains why it was difficult to measure them with ancient techniques (Beatrice Moist - Wikipedia)

In the future, magnetometry could be used to study long-range electrical signals in a variety of plant species, and to develop a diagnosis of plant diseases and their causes of vulnerability.

The results of the study can also be added to the recently growing dictionary of knowledge about how plants send signals internally and externally, and communicate over a hidden network, which scientists are just beginning to properly explore.