Do trees have memories

6 Minute English

语言学习

2021-12-30

6 分钟
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  • This is a download from BBC Learning English.

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  • Hello, this is Six Minute English from BBC Learning English.

  • I'm Neil.

  • And I'm Sam.

  • Over the past 18 months, we've heard a lot about the human immune system.

  • The cells in our bodies that fight diseases like coronavirus.

  • We know that in humans, the bloodstream carries immune cells around our body.

  • But what about trees and plants?

  • They don't have blood.

  • So how do they protect themselves?

  • That's a good question, Sam.

  • And the answer involves memory.

  • Us humans store memories in our brain, but our body also remembers things,

  • including stressful situations from the past, which it stores in our genes.

  • The information gets passed on to our children, genetically.

  • But surely trees don't have memories, Neil.

  • I mean, do you think a tree can remember being young or what it was doing last year?

  • Well, not exactly, but trees grow rings.

  • A layer of wood for each year of growth.