Can you hear corn grow? At first, this might sound like a stupid question. Of course you can’t, that would make no sense. Buuuut, science has proven otherwise.
Douglas Cook argues that by listening to corn you can prevent corn stalk failure, a problem millions of scientists have been battling with over the years. Cook isn’t simply grabbing corn, putting it next to his ear and listening closely; he is leading a group of plant scientists that have teamed up with engineers and have designed special sensors that expand the sound the corn makes during its formation, helping them pinpoint the moment something goes wrong with its development.
Through sound, these scientists have also discovered that corn grows through breakage, much like your muscles do when you work out; by tearing themselves up, healing, and then growing stronger.
This is a big deal for science since it opens a bunch of doors in terms of what scientists could do with this technology and all the things they can discover about other plants and preventing the failure of crops in the future.
Cook’s discovery has been a recent one, so we’re just at the beginning of what this could mean for the future of corn. In the meantime, you can watch this video of a farmer explaining the “crackling” sound the corn makes while growing.
And here we have a recording of corn doing its thing:
