Leaves on a soy plant Igor Stevanovic / Alamy
When leaves flutter in the breeze, the frequency of their vibrations may indicate whether the plant is dehydrated. This finding could lead to new ways of monitoring farm crops and help us understand how rainwater reaches the forest floor.
Think of a leaf as a ruler held by one end while the other end is flicked, says at Cornell University in New York. A stiffer ruler will vibrate at a higher frequency than one that is more flexible.
Previous studies have found that the frequency of fluttering leaves goes…
