Jonathan Drori: The beautiful tricks of flowers

www.ted.com In this visually dazzling talk, Jonathan Drori shows the extraordinary ways flowering plants -- over a quarter million species -- have evolved to attract insects to spread their pollen: growing 'landing-strips' to guide the insects in, shining in ultraviolet, building elaborate traps, and even mimicking other insects in heat.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at www.ted.com/tra....

[@kontekzt]

"...every home should have an electron scanning microscope..." couldn`t agree more

[@winterqueen3016]

Flowers makes everything beautiful 🌹🌷❤️

[@noufal7507]

mashallah ............Brilliant man ....awesome research........and yes very genuine presentation

[@AveryMilieu]

What a treat! I want more!

[@tranquiladealma]

@foot1647 totally agree! The intro is too loud in comparision to the rest of the video.

[@hashbashir]

i love the guys presentation. so genuine.

[@kusotarre]

@reafdaw01 I think it is rather easily understood, once you understand that the factor driving the selection of the mimic isn't the other flower, but the insect that is symbiotic with the other flower.

[@Lekozza]

Some truly amazing designs.

[@phantomdoodler]

I'v never so interested in flowers as I just was watching that

[@liquidminds]

@lazyd0g considering how simple the concept of evolution is, it's weired that so many people don't get it. thx for not getting tired of repeating it over and over again.

[@pixelbind]

I think i just learned a new way to pick up women. By identifying the flower that makes up their perfume A bit nerdy but that's who I am :D

[@ratholin]

@spinynorman1982 did she at least get you nectared up before she got you to take her pollen?

[@cariuiba]

WAW, Excellents! Videos!

[@robbie.broadstock5645]

I love this guy

[@mrplease66]

lovely

[@HoboStuff24]

He's intelligent and very passionate! I'm glad he loves what he does.

[@boochompsit]

This was amazing, he is totally emersed in this world. I love it!

[@funnyguylol69]

@warlord1981nl It's about plant sex. Pretty interesting stuff.

[@dookiecheez]

wow wtf...that one plant basically evolved to become a kinky love shack for beetles. Awesome.

[@natedejuggla]

givin the fact that people have had complaints about the intro being "too loud" for what seems like months now, at the top of the page with 100's of thumbs up, OBVIOUSLY TED doesn't read this shit or they just don't care, so please stop complaining about the damn intro so we can have something more amusing/funny/interesting to read at the top of the comments page, thanks and have a nice day :)

[@kurtilein3]

@yourtube20061 Natural selection does the job, plants cannot see. Reproductive success is a really important factor, and effective use of resources is another one. Plants are not conscious, its natural selection that shapes them. Its the eyes of the insects that choose which flower will be more successful at pollination and which one will be less successful. You could say the pollinators are "selectively breeding" the flowers. Also be aware that pollinators and plants evolved together.

[@Jotto999]

Ah, the evening primrose. I read about it in Dawkins' The Greatest Show on Earth, I recommend it to everyone. Aside from being a beautiful display of life, it's a satisfying rebuttal to those who still don't think evolution is a fact.

[@OMG_BeCkY]

How the hell do plants, which have no eyes or consciousness, know how to mimic insects? That's what I want to know.

[@TrueMiszou]

I really like this guys passion. You can tell he's overcoming nerves in this talk. The hidden ultraviolet flower patterns were pretty damn awesome, I'd love to see more of those!

[@sashakid]

great talk :D very interesting to know a bit more about how the evolution has played with diffrent beings

[@ididjaustralia]

@foot1647 yup n also reduce the length of the tedtalks intro to 2 secs max pls?

[@darksaiyan2006]

@martynwonder There's different kinds of knowing - the concept of instinct, the genetic imprint; and the active process of learning something. Of course plants don't exactly have a brain, so active knowing is impossible to them. On the other hand, whatever is written in the plant's genetic code is something the plant knows how to do, whether it be growing a certain way, dying in a certain way, or mimicking something after millions of years of mutation alongside said something.

[@gulllars]

@doGoNsIylbaborPerehT i feel worth clarifying that Natural Selection is the non-random part of evolution, while mutation is random. This gives a random pool of possibilities, where the benificial ones to reproduction are selected, those neutral to reproduction may or may not be selected, and those hurtfull to reproduction are not selected.

[@warlord1981nl]

Starting to become kind of disappointed with TED. Technology, Entertainment, Design... again a video that has none of them. If that guy could for example hold a speech that shows how this information could be useful to us then, yes, show me, awesome. But now it's just a random video about a random subject. Very fitting for KZbin but not for TED.

[@ratholin]

@pixelbind It's better to say "I have some nectar would you help me spread some pollen?" I'll be trying that one out.

[@BoxSwordLofi]

randomly evolving into an insect is impossible, don't believe me? calculate the possibility :P

[@natedejuggla]

@doGoNsIylbaborPerehT brilliant description of natural selection.

[@Isiyac]

@Dreamrio You are absolutely correct. That, however, is simply evolution. No one creature is able to adapt its future generation in a way it would think beneficial.

[@CybFrog]

@papatoony You answered your own question: They don't. I just hope you don't see it as challenge to evolution. It's not.

[@Justgoodvids]

@doGoNsIylbaborPerehT They have feelings, it has been proven, go to the solomon islands and see a tree die due to it being cursed at for days...

[@Get2TheDeLorean]

TED you wanna talk flowers? i think its about time you shed some light on the corruption that is the illegality of THE flower... MARYJANE!

[@doraemonrox]

11:50 Damn he pointed at the loading bar and pointed out it was red.

[@pixelbind]

@foot1647 You should try the older ted videos. They've actually already reduced the sound of the intro's a while back :D

[@1234tombaker]

@doGoNsIylbaborPerehT Thinking about it I should have known that lol But yeah this stuff intrigues me so thank you :)

[@sonicase]

great talk man :D

[@sullykillsully]

ait how do the plants know at the insects look like

[@Onoma314]

Lol...awkward silence @:45. Great talk though.

[@reafdaw01]

@yourtube20061 They can't see other plants. Plants that happen to mimik other plants have a greater chance of survival and will therefore spread. THe evolutionary process is quite complicated and often not understood.

[@KillerNeuron]

his nose is really bothering me, especially when he says proboscis... otherwise, wonderful talk!

[@RichT519]

@brucebannerization Why does having a common ancestor mean we all perceive colors the same?

[@yourtube20061]

how do plants mimic other plants or animals ? how are they able to see, and then mimic it ?

[@McPrfctday]

He was very nervous at first... but a minute in he became a professor / teacher. He sounds like he talks to young people for a living. Always a good thing.

[@olishant]

@doGoNsIylbaborPerehT Just like a Heike Crab has no idea it looks like a samurai.

[@1234tombaker]

How do flowers mimick what the insects look like? If they don't have eyes ...

[@fishyluver14]

@DeePhlat Yeah, I know. I just thought it was funny how he corrected himself.

[@Slashtap]

Plants are dominating the meta right now freaking Hyper Librarian dam

[@pikiwiki]

great talk. serious business. i wanna buy a scanning electron microscope.

[@PoweredByMagnets]

"it's designed.. er.. evolved to" lol

[@Gunny_]

If you liked this, watch Sexual Encounters of the Floral Kind

[@oO_ox_O]

@ghostdk Yeah, because otherwise creationists might quote mine him.

[@martynwonder]

Is mimic the right word to use in these situations ? like The plant mimics an animal..... This is one of the things about evolution that i dont understand that well,because ppl, and even biologists use the word mimic , as if the plant knows that it's doing. As if the plant knows the reason for its sucsess is because it is mimicing some animal. what do you think?

[@raydredX]

@TheHickstead It doesn't matter where the video is from really.

[@memoryhero]

This dude is like the Barry White of the flower kingdom.

[@CreepyCave]

@martynwonder I think a plant can perfectly well mimic an animal without knowing it. The concept of plants knowing what they're doing is as far as I know a way of simplifying evolution, and should be ignored when trying to understand what actually happens.

[@reafdaw01]

@kusotarre Yes but I think there is a big difference between understanding the mechanism and actually knowing how it evolved and what the involved steps were. Orchids which mimik insects and don't offer reward for example. How did they evolve? Were they pollinated by these same insects, offered them reward and then stopped it? Or were they pollinated by something different and changed their morphology drastically over only one generation (maybe because it is controled by a singel gene)?

[@AveryMilieu]

@doGoNsIylbaborPerehT You assume determination and will. What happens is Darwinian - the flowers that look more like what attracts bees, have little tricks to pass pollen, are more likely to pass those traits on because the bees come calling...

[@lordmetroid]

@VideoNewZ9 Nay, a spermatozoa is different from a pollen.

[@RichT519]

@brucebannerization That's very interesting cause I've always thought about that issue. I'm glad you've settled it for me though. Gotta love science right?

[@YawnGod]

@BlackMDawn Only because other humans are idiots.

[@UncertainTruth]

lol why do people get so mad about people saying first

[@redxraccoon]

@TheHickstead You're absolutely right. Not first.

[@oO_ox_O]

@warlord1981nl A nice overview over flowers, I see nothing wrong with that, I've seen less useful vids on TED.

[@RichT519]

@brucebannerization But couldn't it have mutated causing altered perception in different individuals? True that human DNA doesn't vary much but it varies enough to give us different races doesn't it? Also our minds and how they perceive things vary tremendously. Could color perception simply be another variation in the way our mind perceives things?

[@defminerva13]

Very informative and highly enjoyable. Amazing what a no brain plant can make us highly intelligent replicators do.

[@YY4Me133]

Fascinating stuff. Jonathan Drori is a wonderful speaker. His love of the subject is obvious, and contageous.

[@ENr369]

@NWRefund lol, he is just mad he didnt get first.

[@felipecostaabbud]

We are from Brazil and we would like to congratulate this brillant scientist! thaks for this!

[@VideoNewZ9]

@lordmetroid point taken funny thought though

[@RadaQ-_-]

homie brought out the big guns with them jokes

[@ratholin]

Really slow start but once he started geeking out he became mesmerizing.

[@americanGTA]

great ending!!

[@NWRefund]

@TheHickstead Vote it down and move on.

[@k1awdttt]

6:29 anyone knows what plant that is?

[@steampunkerella]

flowers are the bee's knees (giggle)

[@gregaaron89]

I didn't know flowers were such dirty perverts @__@

[@defminerva13]

@TheHickstead Spirit of youtube

[@Zeem321]

wheres the cannabis flowers?!?!

[@DeoMachina]

Who knew plants were so raunchy

[@magikarp64]

nice

[@Ignorantf00l]

This is the ultimate "flowers and bees" talk:)

[@Stealer96]

I really enjoyed that

[@oshinsr]

I enjoyed this talk.

[@CognosSquare]

Very sneaky plants.

[@ChengHuatWan]

fantastic talk

[@xtinct2]

0:40 - 0:45 MAD AWKWARD!...hahahah

[@Skeluz]

Great talk.

[@Ryan44567]

Great talk.

[@Capriciou5]

@papatoony evolution

[@enriqueDFTL]

Awesome!

[@shadman1911]

very cool

[@SailingRobots]

first

[@fishyluver14]

7:31 lol, "designed..ehh ehm..evolved"

[@PR0H0LDEM]

great piece of information

[@benswinter]

7:38 looks like two thumbs down

[@iararcunha]

Amazing!! Thanks for sharing.