Re: A. Einstein and science-fairs

[Larry Cartwright <exit60@IA4U.NET>]

> From page 5 of the current (Oct 1999) issue of National Geographic
magazine which, for better or worse, will be read by a zillion
people worldwide:

"Plants can communicate with each other.

"Ilya Rashkin, a botanist at Rutgers University, shows me how he
and his colleagues demonstrated this in an experiment.

"Dozens of tobacco plants, chosen because of their strong
chemical response to a particular virus, were placed in two airtight
chambers.  The scientists injected the plants in one chamber with the
virus. Within two days those infected emitted a volatile chemical into
the air, stimulating the plants in the second chamber to produce
chemicals in their leaves that protected them against the virus.

"This experiment followed the model that guides most research
today:  Develop a hypothesis, run tests, and produce data that other
researchers can confirm or challenge by conducting similar
experiments."

[snip]

Larry Cartwright
Physics and Physical Science Teacher
Charlotte HS, Charlotte MI USA  <exit60@ia4u.net>