Does sound affect plant growth and why is it considered Pseudoscience? PLEEEEEEEEASEE HELP!!!!?
446437
Plants have no ears to hear and no brain to process or develop musical taste or music appreciation...so any attempts to show relationships between music forms and growth or other responses have met with total failure in the hands of true scientists. This explains the lack of literature for you to read on the subject. Yes there are some quack "scientists" who have claimed that certain kinds of music caused improvements in plant growth...but no such claims have met the rigor demanded for publication in respected journals. Such projects are often labeled "pseudoscience" because they fail to explain the control of critical variables, nor do they specify replication levels, nor do they show actual data or the results of statistical testing.\nThere really is not much good information about the effect of music on plants because all attempts to do controlled studies on plants and music result in "no difference". Any "differences" between a music treatment and a no-music control (or other-music treatment) in pseudoscience studies can almost always be attributed to some difference in other variables in the project which have not been suitably controlled (light, water, fertilizer, soil type, humidity, etc.). So, as for the TV shows and trade-books, not all "science" is good science. Beyond seismonasty in species like Mimosa pudica described below, there are no articles on musical appreciation or musical tastes of plants in reputable science journals. Some trade books and even some educational texts and software have given projects on musical appreciation by plants more respectability than is deserved. These are good examples of "not everything you read in print is to be believed." It is possible for a plant to respond to the vibrations accompanying sounds. A short bibliography at the bottom of this page gives you some references...but to almost "nothing to report." I emphasize again that while there ARE responses to sound/vibration in plants, there is NO controlled study published on the MUSICAL TASTES or MUSIC APPRECIATION by plants in reputable journals. One plant that responds to sound-induced vibration is Mimosa pudica, also known as the "sensitive plant." Vibrations induce electrical signals across the leaflets of this plant, and cells at the base of the leaflets respond to these action potentials osmotically. This response results in a sharp change in the turgor pressure in these pulvinus cells, and that pressure change, in turn, results in the folding of the blade at the pulvinus. Another pulvinus at the base of the petiole may also respond if the vibration is severe enough. This kind of response is known as seismonasty.How would this plant respond in terms of growth if its leaves were kept closed by constant vibration? If you think very long about photosynthesis in leaves as the driving force for growth, you will realize that continuous leaflet closure would inhibit rather than stimulate the growth of the plant. Indeed loud sounds (vibrations really) have been reported to negatively impact plant growth .If the experiments are conducted in a scientific way then study will not be pseudo science.
1056075
it does make sound!!!!........ how stupid iz that \nWt a question >>>>> so weird !!!
1057686
There is a huge volume of "pseudoscience" in our world, due mostly to marketing efforts. While it can be detected in every consumer advertising campaign in existence to some degree, it is especially prevalent in the hair care industry.\n\nShampoo and conditioner manufacturers make some of the wildest claims of pseudoscience imaginable. They make their products sound like high-tech miracles that revolutionize haircare in order to impress the masses into buying it. Some of their claims are simply empty words that have no basis in the way physics, biology, and chemistry work. \n\nConsumers often fall for the amazing claims because they lack the background to understand the reality and deal with such claims critically. The impact? Sales based on misleading information like the claims of the snake oil vendors of yester-year. Fortunately FDA and other consumer protection mechanisms help prevent potentially damaging lies. The damage dealt by hair care pseudoscience is largely confined to the bank account rather than the body.
22382
In 1973, a woman named Dorothy Retallack published a small book called The Sound of Music and Plants. Her book detailed experiments that she had been conducting at the Colorado Woman’s College in Denver using the school’s three Biotronic Control Chambers. Mrs. Retallack placed plants in each chamber and speakers through which she played sounds and particular styles of music. She watched the plants and recorded their progress daily. She was astounded at what she discovered.\n\nHer first experiment was to simply play a constant tone. In the first of the three chambers, she played a steady tone continuously for eight hours. In the second, she played the tone for three hours intermittently, and in the third chamber, she played no tone at all. The plants in the first chamber, with the constant tone, died within fourteen days. The plants in the second chamber grew abundantly and were extremely healthy, even more so than the plants in the third chamber.\n\nFor her next experiment, Mrs. Retallack used two chambers (and fresh plants). She placed radios in each chamber. In one chamber, the radio was tuned to a local rock station, and in the other the radio played a station that featured soothing "middle-of-the-road" music. Only three hours of music was played in each chamber. On the fifth day, she began noticing drastic changes. In the chamber with the soothing music, the plants were growing healthily and their stems were starting to bend towards the radio! In the rock chamber, half the plants had small leaves and had grown gangly, while the others were stunted. After two weeks, the plants in the soothing-music chamber were uniform in size, lush and green, and were leaning between 15 and 20 degrees toward the radio. The plants in the rock chamber had grown extremely tall and were drooping, the blooms had faded and the stems were bending away from the radio.\n\nThis shows the obvious effect of music on the lives of the plants. Nutrients are important without any question, music is just an extra suppliment that can  modify the life of the plant by an amount. The experiments conducted showed an equal effect on humans. For more authoritative source of information, please refer to the source :
135919
"The Effects of Electricity on the Growth of Plants"\n\n\nWe had that topic last year.
762625
you could do something like, the effects of pollutants on soil, then to show your experiment try growing plants in different types of soil, have one with normal soil, your control, then others with different pollutants, oil, chemicals, garbage\nHopefully this could help
791112
I've got bad hearing loss and severe tinnitus.\n\nI cannot understand anyone talking to me from across an average sized room from all the "noises"\n\nYou can run yourself broke trying various medicines and concoctions to treat it.......heck,,even just to find something that helps.\n\nWhat works for one person may not necessarily work for another\n\nOne thing that I just stumbled upon which helps a bunch for me,,\nand everyone I've suggested it to claims to have gotten noticeable results...\n\nZINC>>a buncha Zinc.\nI take a zinc tablet 2~3 times a day.\n\nPotassium>>I take one tablet a day\n\nVitamic C>>I always take a bunch,,a huge bunch-- I dont even know how much,,I practically "snack" on vitamin C tablets\n\nB-100 complex>>one a day\n\nIt works SLOW,,,barely noticeable on a day to day basis.\nThen in about a week I notice that the noise is very minimal.\n\nIf I quit/skip(which I do too frequently),,in 3~4 days the noises become extreme again,,,\nand only THEN do I realize how much improvement had been  made.\n\nI think the Zinc has the most profound effect.\nPotassium is probably 2nd.\nB-100,,probably ties with Potassium\nVit C,,I cant tell,,I've taken so much for so long it's hard to say.\n\nOne thing I've been Told 1st hand by several people who swear it helps THEM,,but I never tried it myself,\nis an herbal thing called Black Cohosh Root.\n\nIt's commonly promoted for female hormonal probs during menopause.\nThere's been several studies which "prove" it's effectiveness for that app.\n\nI read a little about the stuff and it's effects,,,and it made sense to me.\n\nIt's influences are not so much a "female health thing",,,\nbut how it influences a variety of symptoms that females just happen to experience during those conditions\n\nI've intended to give it a try for several years,,\nand have no reason why I haven't,,,\nexcept that maybe the noise is satisfactorily under control for me most of the time.\n\nI take all the other stuff anyway for other reasons,,and my ears stay "good enough" to be bearable\n\nIt's fairly cheap,,\nYou may wanna read up on Black Cohosh for TINNITUS,,and see what ya think.\n\nZinc & Potassium  I am CERTAIN it helps ME a bunch with the prob.\nC & B complex,,I beleive it helps me a good bit\n\nGood Luck,,hope you get some releif
313105
did a couple projects in college about plants and music, I found jazz to be the best, with classical right behind it.\nHere's a good link:\nhttp://www.dovesong.com/positive_music/plant_experiments.asp
711506
Well, i don't know for sure either,\n\nbut i've been reading in some books that telling about an experiment by turning a Classical music and a Heavy Metal music beside a plant (the same species of plants with the same caring), it turns out that the plant with classical music was grow healthy and gave a good fruit, while the Rock plant kind of skinny and don't even gave any fruit, and die slowly.\n\nI never seen it by myself, but i think it's logical that the sound wave (wich is energy) somehow bringing some kind of information (or effecting by force) to the plant (life being) and effecting the life of the cell...\n\nI haven't really make a research on this anyway, i have another project right now...\n\nHope this help\nBless You
305082
if you experiment with potted plants, it is likely, that far more nutrient is in the soil, so you will observe nothing. (only some plants do not tolerate too much watering, too cold water, chlorinated water - fresh from tap, ) I suggest you go for hydroponia (plant in water and nothing else) so that you can get somewhere. I also suggest you use seeds so that you have larger number of identical material - lets say each experimental variant will look like three-five  dishes with 50 cress/mustard seeds each.  (TO RULE OUT CHANCE!!! ) you can try different waters and your experiment will still take up the space on one window sill or small desk. You will observe different coloration, growth rate, as the plants will experience lack of nutrients (you can also try different fertilizers, different ammount of it, do chemical tests with your waters). I dont recomment larger seeds than that, because then you will have much nutrients in the seeds themselves.\ngood luck
158418
There have been several experiments to see if this was the case.  The first one stated that classical music helped plants grow much better then other forms of music.  However, more experiments since then have shown that there is no link to plant growth.
1135708
C\n\nBecause soundwaves are not really particles. They use any kind of medium (solids, liquids, gases) to propagate unlike light which is actual particles of energy which is why light can travel through a vacuum (sun to earth) but Sound cannot
1325
The answer to this depends on if you are a physicist or a biologist! A physicist would say "yes" because to him/her sound is vibration of air molecules which will occur when a tree falls. \n\nA biologist, however would say "no" because sound is a perception in the brains of living things capable of perceiving it. The perception is a brain's interpretation of the nerve signals sent to it as a result of vibrations causing the eardrum to vibrate, then the ossicles in the middle ear, then the fluid in the cochlea, then the hair cells etc. There is no sound until a brain perceives it, only vibrating air.\n\nEven if the vibrations are recorded, there is still no sound until the recording is played and heard/interpreted by a capable brain.
808380
I agree that including a section under science called "alternative" lends a legitimacy to the pseudosciences (crystal healing, psychism, pixies, etc.)--by implying that they are, in fact, another science. The fact that such pseudosciences don't follow the Scientific Method doesn't seem to matter to the persons who put this topic here. My guess ... they weren't scientists.
927613
False -- proven at first link, commented on at second link:\n\n"The winner (so far) of the Most Ludicrous Entry contest is the claim that a duck's quack doesn't echo. Unfortunately, it's also the item we're most frequently asked about. The premise is just silly: a duck's quack (and presumably, of all the sounds known to man, only a duck's quack) has some special sonic property that causes it not to echo. We're not talking about a situation where a landform creates an acoustic shadow (a phenomenon under which even loud sounds can be inaudible to nearby listeners), but the claim that a duck's quack doesn't echo under any conditions. "\n\nRead further at links below of more information. Or, just search on any engine with "duck quack echo" and find LOTS more sites to have fun with.
115935
On that myth busters show the plants with the loudest music grew tallest. Maybe it's the vibrations?
545274
If you have the education to spell a word like pseudoscience, you should be able to fugure out the answer to that one yourself.  My theory is that string is used best when flying a kite.  Maybe you should go fly one too.