Researchers at MIT have suggested that rice seeds can hear the sound of rain, according to a new study. MIT calls it “the first direct evidence that plant seeds and seedlings can sense sounds in nature”. Perhaps surprisingly, the effects reported in this new study are not as radical as they may appear.

Playing music to your plants may sound eccentric, but a few previous studies have found it has some effect. For example, a 2024 study found bok choi grew better to classical music but less well to rock and roll. Nor is this an isolated phenomenon. Sound can have a range of effects on plant behaviour.

For example, some flowers use the pitch of an insect’s buzz to determine whether they will release their pollen. Both arabidopsis (thale cress) and tobacco plants produce higher levels of toxins, such as nicotine, in response to the sound of caterpillars chewing on neighbouring plants. There have also been reports that notes from a synthesiser can increase seed germination and seedling growth in mung beans, cucumber and rice.

Many people think of plants as nice-looking greens. Essential for clean air, yes, but simple organisms. A step change in research is shaking up the way scientists think about plants: they are far more complex and more like us than you might imagine. This blossoming field of science is too delightful to do it justice in one or two stories.
This article is part of a series, Plant Curious, exploring scientific studies that challenge the way you view plantlife.

In contrast to previous experiments using electronic tones from a speaker, the MIT researchers instead tested the effect of a natural sound upon rice germination: the fall of rain. Rice can grow in soil or under water, and the researchers started by measuring the sound made by raindrops falling onto shallow puddles similar to the paddies they sowed seed in. The volume of sound waves created by drops landing on water was incredibly loud, equivalent to someone shouting straight into your ear, but mostly at frequencies too low or too high for a human to hear.

They then poured simulated rain on some of the pools containing rice and compared their rate of sprouting with seeds in still water. They found that although water droplets imitating light rain had little effect, heavier rain increased germination, and the heaviest by more than 30%.

They also picked up on an important clue from a previous study about how the rice might be detecting the sound. A 2002 study found that mutant arabidopsis plants which can’t make starch didn’t respond to vibration in the same way that normal arabidopsis do.

Sound waves are just vibrating energy travelling through a gas, liquid or solid that make objects, such as the eardrum membranes we use to hear, shake as they pass. Sound is one way we detect vibrations. The MIT researchers theorised that perhaps plants needed to be able to make starch to detect sound.

This drew their attention to structures called statoliths, from the Greek for “standing stone”. Plant cells that can detect gravity each contain several statoliths filled with highly dense starch which sink through the cell. As they fall, the statoliths brush against other structures in the cell and come to rest pressing on its bottom, telling the plant which way is down.

To test their theory, the researchers modelled the effect of the recorded sound upon statoliths in the rice seeds. They found that the rain sounds could make the statoliths bounce up from the bottom of the cell like beads on a drum. Light rain would have little effect, but as the rain sound got heavier the statoliths jumped higher and faster, matching the stimulation of germination.

It also seemed that the layer of statoliths in the bottom of the cell would behave almost like a liquid, similar to the balls in a children’s ball pit, and that the sound energy would stir this “liquid” and help spread chemical messages to the rest of the plant.

The mutant arabidopsis from the previous study probably couldn’t sense vibrations because they can’t make the starch that their statoliths need to work. This suggests that that statoliths may be one way that plants “hear”.

Although there is now little doubt among scientists that plants can detect and respond to sounds, is this really hearing or is a mind needed to perceive the signal? Plants don’t have a nervous system and centralised brain like humans and most other animals. There has, however, been a lively debate amongst scientists about whether plants demonstrate some type of intelligence or not.

Observations of plant behaviour that appears intelligent include a 2017 study in which pea roots seemed to follow the sound of water through a simple maze, and 2016 research that claimed pea shoots learned that they would find light if they followed the direction of wind from a fan.

Scientists have observed electrical signals in plants of a similar type to those in our nerves, even if they are not carried by specialised structures like our nervous system. In many cases we don’t know what they do, but this may be because plants often respond in ways that aren’t obvious to us.

For example, electrical signals are used to trigger Venus flytraps to close and then crush their prey. They are also used in Mimosa pudica (also known as shyplants) which rapidly close their leaves when touched. Perhaps a more delocalised type of intelligence is possible.

And there may be other factors at play. Hearing may require an organism that is conscious to sound. There are many definitions of consciousness. But mother and daughter scientists Lynn Margulis and Dorian Sagan have argued that at its most fundamental, consciousness is simply an awareness of the world outside the organism. If so, this is surely something that all species must possess if they are to respond to their environment and survive, even if it varies in complexity and nature.

Maybe the world of a rice seedling is too different to ours for us to understand, but it may not be too much of a stretch to say that they hear the sound or rain.

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The victim escaped and hid in a bin store until officers arrived after an assault

A man assaulted his partner numerous times including punching the woman, grabbing her by the throat and dragging her by her hair. Liam Thrower, 32, turned up at the woman’s house in Arbury, Cambridge, at about 6.10am on November 2, 2025 where he punched her as well as taking her phone and house keys.

He also tackled her to the floor and put his arm over her mouth but the victim managed to escape and hide in a bin store until officers arrived. The 32-year-old also ripped out a cooker and damaged a TV unit during the incident.

The victim told officers that between June and October last year, Thrower, of no fixed address, had smashed her mobile phone, punched her on multiple occasions, grabbed her by the throat, dragged her by her hair and smashed her TV.

On Friday, May 1, Thrower, was jailed for 22 weeks, having pleaded guilty to three counts of criminal damage, three counts of assault by beating and one count of common assault at Cambridge Crown Court.

DC Patrick Sopp, who investigated, said: “Thrower subjected his partner to four months of appalling behaviour, with multiple assaults and damaging her property, so it’s great he’s now been brought to justice.”

A U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine was due to expire Monday with both sides accusing each other of breaching the 72-hour arrangement, as American and European officials considered how they might steer the warring countries into further talks.

Ukrainian authorities said Monday that Russian drones, bombs and artillery shelling struck civilian areas of the northeastern Kharkiv and southern Kherson regions, killing at least two people and wounding seven others, including a 14-year-old boy.

Russia’s Defense Ministry insisted the military has “strictly observed” the ceasefire and accused Ukraine of repeatedly violating the agreement.

Similar ceasefires announced since Russia invaded its neighbor more than four years ago also have failed to stop the fighting, and U.S.-led diplomatic efforts over the past year have come to nothing.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said data from NASA observations indicated military activities decreased but did not stop after U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy had accepted his request for a ceasefire running Saturday through Monday.

The move was meant to mark Victory Day, the Russian celebration marking the defeat of Nazi Germany.

The ISW noted late Sunday that “ceasefires without explicit enforcement mechanisms, credible monitoring, and defined dispute resolution processes are unlikely to hold.”

Russia and Ukraine prepare to exchange prisoners of war

Trump had said there would also be an exchange of prisoners, declaring that the break in fighting could be the “beginning of the end” of the war. Zelenskyy said the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side is being prepared.

There are no signs that the two sides are ready to budge from their key negotiating positions, however.

Putin wants all of the Donbas region, Ukraine’s industrial heartland, even though his army hasn’t completely captured it, but Zelenskyy says he won’t surrender it. Zelenskyy has offered a ceasefire and a face-to-face meeting with Putin, which the Russian leader has ruled out until a negotiated settlement is almost finalized.

Putin suggested at the weekend that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who has had close business ties to Russia, could act as a mediator. But German and European officials scotched that possibility even while accepting that the European Union could take a more significant role in peace efforts after being largely sidelined by Washington over the past year.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who has a friendly relationship with Trump, said in comments published Monday that Europe needs to engage directly with Moscow.

“It’s time to start talking to Russia,” Stubb was quoted as saying in Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas cautioned the bloc must get its objectives straight before attempting to negotiate with the Kremlin.

“Before we discuss with Russia, we should discuss amongst ourselves what we want to talk to them about,” she told reporters in Brussels.

US remains engaged in diplomacy to end the war, Zelenskyy says

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha joined EU foreign ministers for the Brussels meeting. “We have mainstream peace talks under the leadership of the U.S., and we need this track and we need U.S. leadership. But Europe could play also its role,” Sybiha said.

Zelenskyy said Monday that Ukraine has “nearly daily communication” with Trump administration representatives. Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council chief, in recent days met with Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in the United States, according to Zelenskyy.

“Importantly, America remains engaged in diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said on X.

Sybiha noted that in recent months Ukraine has improved its performance on the battlefield, reducing the bigger Russian army to a slow and costly slog on the 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line, while using its domestically developed long-range drones and missiles to hit targets deep inside Russia.

“We have a new reality on the battlefield … Ukraine became stronger after the most difficult winter,” Sybiha said.

Almost 20 countries seek Ukraine’s drone technology

Cutting-edge drone technology has been one of the main drivers of success for Ukraine’s short-handed army. It has also drawn other countries’ attention, enhancing Ukraine’s international standing.

Zelenskyy said nearly 20 countries in the Middle East and the Gulf, the South Caucasus and Europe are at various stages of entering into deals with Ukraine for battle-tested drones. In return, Ukraine is getting fuel and money.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was the latest senior European official to visit Kyiv, arriving Monday on an unannounced visit set to focus on furthering defense cooperation between the two countries.

Germany has become the world’s top provider of security assistance to Ukraine, accounting for roughly one-third of all aid the country receives, Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Monday, according to Ukrainian media.

Germany has helped provide an “unprecedented package” of air defense missiles for Ukraine, Fedorov said, and has begun financing the production of medium- and long-range strike drones, which he described as critical for deep-strike operations.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Alan Gemmell said the PM “no longer has the trust or confidence of the public”.

A fourth Scottish Labour MP has called for Keir Starmer to quit by setting a date for his departure from office.

Alan Gemmell said he does not believe the embattled PM can win the next general election for Labour.

Starmer made a make-or-break speech this morning amid huge dissatisfaction within his MP group at his leadership.

Former deputy leader Angela Rayner and Health Secretary Wes Streeting are poised to run if Starmer quits.

In a statement seen by the Record, Central Ayrshire MP Gemmell wrote:

“Having campaigned weekly across Ayrshire since October it was clear the Prime Minister’s unpopularity would stop us from achieving a Labour victory in Holyrood. At door after door voters told us they disagreed with decisions that had been taken.

“Our country faces enormous challenges and we need a Labour government that can deliver the scale of change this requires. The message from last week’s elections is clear: the Prime Minister no longer has the trust or confidence of the public to lead this change.

“I listened to the Prime Minister today. Sadly I don’t believe he can lead us into, and win, the next election therefore he must now set a date for his departure.

“I am deeply sorry for the people I campaigned with who would have been excellent MSPs. We need to start afresh in communities across the country to win back trust and deliver a radical agenda to improve working people’s lives.”

It comes after fellow Scottish Labour MPs Brian Leishman, Euan Stainbank and Irene Campbell also called for the PM to go.

OSLO, Norway (AP) — A Norwegian court said Monday that it will announce its verdict next month in the trial of the eldest son of Norway’s crown princess on charges including rape, following proceedings that cast a shadow over the royal family.

The Oslo District Court said that the verdict in the case of Marius Borg Høiby will be delivered on June 15.

During six weeks of court proceedings that ended on March 19, prosecutors sought a prison sentence of seven years and seven months for Høiby, who denies the rape allegations.

Høiby, 29, is the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit by a previous relationship and the stepson of Crown Prince Haakon, the heir to Norway’s throne. He is charged with 40 offenses in total, including four counts of rape between 2018 and 2024.

Defense lawyers for Høiby, who has no royal titles or official duties, said that there was no evidence to support the rape charges. He has, however, admitted to lesser offenses, including drug possession, transporting 3.5 kilograms (7.7 pounds) of marijuana in 2020, traffic violations and breaches of a restraining order involving a former partner. He has also partially admitted to acts related to violence and threats but disputes key aspects of those allegations, including intent.

The defense team has said that a maximum sentence of 18 months would be appropriate for the charges he has admitted to. It argued that Høiby has lived under extraordinary media pressure due to his royal connections, which they said has shaped public perception of the case.

While the trial has played out, Mette-Marit separately has faced scrutiny this year over her connections with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. That has raised questions over her judgment, though she is not accused of any wrongdoing.

Martin Farrell, who manages the Chapmans store in Glasgow Road, made it round the 26.2 mile course in Manchester in under three hours raising money for Alzheimer’s Research.

A Wishaw butcher has raised cash for charity and produced a great time at a recent marathon.

Martin Farrell, who manages the Chapmans store in Glasgow Road, made it round the 26.2 mile course in Manchester in under three hours raising money for Alzheimer’s Research.

A Chapmans spokesperson said: “A huge congratulations to our very own Martin Farrell, the manager of our Glasgow Road shop in Wishaw, who ran in the Manchester Marathon on Sunday, April 18.

“He raised over £1100 for Alzheimer’s Research and came in 920th place of the 28,000 participants who crossed the finish line.

“He finished the race with his own personal best time of 2 hours and 57 minutes, and all at Chapmans are proud of his achievement.”

The Adidas Manchester Marathon is the UK’s second largest marathon and one of Europe’s largest is an iconic event drawing participants from all over the world to the vibrant streets of Greater Manchester.

Many regular runners find this the ideal event to get a personal best time, whilst everybody finds the incredible Mancunian support throughout the course unforgettable.

Alzheimer’s Research UK currently has a network of 15 centres of research excellence across the UK supporting hundreds of scientists.

READ MORE: Lanarkshire to shine bright in support of Scotland’s mental health this week

The charity is dedicated to making life-changing breakthroughs by forging partnerships and investing in research in the UK and across the globe.

It also funds research into understanding the diseases that cause dementia, improving diagnosis, finding out more about how to reduce risk, and developing treatments.

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READ MORE: SNP’s Clare Adamson claims Motherwell & Wishaw seat for third victory in a row

Asking for the tag to be removed, the solicitor said as the weather improved Taggart wanted to wear shorts and take his child swimming and to sports grounds

A Belfast man facing domestic abuse offences had a bid to remove two of his bail conditions refused today.

A solicitor acting on behalf of 28-year old James Taggart said a request to remove an electronic tag was to enable his client to wear shorts and take his son swimming and to sports grounds in the summer.

The bid to remove the tag was refused, as was a request to remove a 10pm to 5am curfew, at Belfast Crown Court.

From Cu Chulainn House on Victoria Parade, Taggart is facing eight domestic-related offences spanning a period from December 1, 2024 to April 27, 2025.

These offences include two counts of non-fatal strangulation, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage.

He has not yet been arraigned on the charges due to the current withdrawal of services by criminal barristers in a dispute over Legal Aid but his solicitor told Judge Philip Gilpin that Taggart was “vehemently contesting” them.

Taggart’s solicitor said his client has been on bail for 13 months and has abided by the conditions imposed with “no hint” of any breaches. The solicitor added that due to the strike it was “unlikely” the case could proceed this year.

Asking for the tag to be removed, the solicitor said as the weather improved Taggart wanted to wear shorts and take his child swimming and to sports grounds.

Saying Taggart not being able to do this was affected his mental health, the solicitor also presented the Judge with a photograph of an injury on his client’s leg whilst wearing the tag.

Opposing the bid to vary Taggart’s bail to remove the two conditions, a Crown barrister said both were deemed necessary to protect the complainant.

The Crown barrister told the Belfast Recorder: “She remains supportive of the prosecution and she has advised the police that it gives her sufficient and significant piece of mind knowing that he has a curfew and a tag that prevents him from attending her house.”

Saying Taggart was “not a man who is a stranger to these courts”, the Crown barrister revealed he has 61 previous convictions which included prior incidents of a domestic nature against the same woman.

Regarding the domestic-related charges currently faced by Taggart which he denies, the Crown barrister said this included an allegation that he attacked her whilst she was driving. The woman also alleges that Taggart regularly grabbed her by the neck, punched her in the face on a number of occasions and tried to attack her with a hoover.

Branding Taggart as a “man with a propensity for violence” and one unable to “contain his impulses”, the Crown barrister said the tag and curfew were “designed to put a curb on those impulses” and should not be removed.

The prosecutor said: “Your Honour will be very, very well aware that unfortunately our courts are overwhelmed with the number domestic violence cases.

“We’re asking, for the protection of the complainant and her children, that Your Honour do not remove what are two very necessary conditions.”

The Crown barrister added: “It’s simply not good enough to say ‘I want to wear shorts so I don’t need a tag anymore.’”

After listening to submissions by both the Crown and defence, Judge Gilpin said he accepted Taggart has been on bail for a “significant period of time” without issue and that if he disputed the charges it would be “some time” before a trial takes place.

Refusing the application to remove the tag and curfew, Judge Gilpin said this was because they restricted Taggart’s movements and offered reassurance to the complainant.

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James Charles is walking back his explosive tirade against a former Spirit Airlines worker who asked him for help after losing her job.

The beauty influencer, 26, sparked backlash after he posted an expletive-filled rant about a woman who sent him a GoFundMe link in a message asking for support after she said she was laid off in Spirit’s sudden shutdown last weekend, which cost over 17,000 people their jobs.

In the original video, which has since been deleted, Charles said: “I just got a DM on here from a girl that said, ‘Good morning, James. I know you’ll probably never see this, but if you could just take one minute to read it would really mean a lot to me. I’m really struggling right now because Spirit Airlines just filed for bankruptcy and I have lost my job. Here’s a GoFundMe link. Any donations help.’”

While laughing, he responded: “I’m sure they do, sweetheart. I’m sure they do. You know what else would help you? Getting another job. Yeah, try that.”

He continued: “Because in the time that it took you to copy and paste the same f*** ass message to myself — who you don’t follow, by the way — and probably a hundred other influencers and celebrities, you could’ve applied for a hundred other jobs. But you didn’t, ’cause you’re a lazy piece of s***, and you’re entitled, and you think that influencers and celebrities should fund your life for you. Why would I ever help you?”

The video quickly raised eyebrows online, with social media users criticizing Charles as “entitled,” as one wrote on X: “‘Welcome to the real world’ yet he doesn’t even exist in that world as an influencer. He is so beyond out of touch and is acting like he understands the struggle.”

Charles deleted the clip and went on to issue a shirtless apology Saturday on TikTok, where he called his video “stupid” and “unnecessary.”

“It was rude, it was obnoxious, it was privileged, and most importantly, it was completely f***ing unnecessary,” Charles said. He went on to acknowledge that he could have ignored the message, but instead made a mistake in bashing the jobless woman.

“It was obnoxious, and I shamed her for asking for help in a situation where she was clearly struggling, and this could have been her absolute last resort,” Charles said. “I feel awful because that wasn’t my intention. And I really hurt a lot of people.”

He added: “I’m super sorry, especially to the woman from Spirit Airlines.”