Cross Communication
Trees, ants, drongos and humans through time - a look at who's talking now.
🌳 🐜 🐦 ➕ 👬 ➡️ ⏳ 👀 🤷🏽♀️ 🗣
Did you copy that?
For the emoji challenged (writer included), that was my attempt at the subject line in emoji. As a writer, I often think about how emojis might change the way we communicate.
I’m happy to report that many experts believe emojis will enhance rather than displace written language in the way that body language and gestures enhance speech. But even if emojis displaced words, I wouldn’t be mad about it. I love words, but never more than I love a well-told story or crystal clear message.
Sometimes emojis, GIFs, pictures and music are better messengers. It’s like saying I love you with K-Ci & JoJo, ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ emojis or this gif:
There’s a lot more being said between cultures, generations, species and animals if you read outside the lines, off the page and in unexpected languages. Shall we listen?
More about cross communications…
READ: Do Trees Talk to Each Other?
It’s easy to think of trees as competitive, passive loners, it’s part of the reason why I love them, but scientists are discovering that they’re more connected than we thought.
They share nutrients and send signals when a threat is detected. They do this through chemicals dispersed in the air and the ‘wood-wide-web’ of mycelium (fungal networks) in the soil that physically connects the forest. The article gets detailed about different ways trees communicate in varied ecosystems and the research that’s led to these discoveries, particularly the work of forester Peter Wohlleben. There’s also a story about how surrounding trees continued to share nutrients with a Beech stump that was cut down 😭.
It also touches on how we might read into these signals. It’s nice to think that the trees are helping each other, but many scientists warn against reading into it in an anthropomorphized way. However you read it, the fact that there’s something to read is interesting. Our distant ancestors would have only had chemical signals and body language to work with… look at us now.
WATCH: The Insane Biology of Ant Colonies
Ants… way more interesting than you think! I watched this video to learn about how ant colonies communicate using pheremonal and physical language. For example, when an African Weaver Ant finds food, it leaves a trail of pheromones from the food until it finds another ant. Then it connects its antennae to the other ant’s and waves its head around in what looks like a cute ‘I found food’ happy dance.
What was also super interesting was how tree-dwelling weaver ants use their own larvae to stick (or weave) leaves together to make their houses in the trees. Ant architects are an actual thing! 🐜 📐 🏢
TRIVIA: I’m a bird ya Drongo!
Drongos aren’t just idiots, they’re birds - smart ones too. Fork-Tailed Drongos are cunning mimics that imitate the warning sounds of other birds to trick them into leaving their meals allowing them to swoop in for the steal. Who’s the drongo now?
LISTEN: Mixtape Series - Radiolab
Mixtape explores the influence of the humble cassette through history and tells its story in a very human way. In five episodes we discover how cassettes created the internet, updated media and changed the way we love, hate and communicate. By the end of a few episodes, I was a little scared of the thought of how more advanced tech will change how we’re human. But in classic Radiolab fashion, the series ends on a heart-tugging note that plants a seed of hope.
*Spoiler alert* - the final story is about how someone’s mixtapes served as a way to connect to memories and lost loved ones. I shed a tear and was reminded that technology and language can foster connection and empathy, but only if we choose to use them in that way.
THEME SONG: Surrender - Cheap Trick
This one is inspired a bit by the Drongo’s cheap trick to get an animal to surrender its dinner, but also because of its cross-generational connectivity. The lyrics according to google are about a teenager discovering that their parents are ‘alright’. I had a similar realisation when I first heard this song on guitar hero and bonded with family adults over it. A good song will do that. It can speak to different people in the same way and allow them to connect with each other.
Thanks for listening,
💛 🙏🏽 🌟 Alegria