Scientists find out why sunflowers dance when they grow

By Stephen Beech via SWNS

Sunflowers really do "dance" as they grow so as not to block solar rays from each other, reveals new research.

The study sheds light on a scientific puzzle that has occupied researchers since the days of Charles Darwin.

Researchers discovered that plants that grow in dense environments - where each plant casts a shadow on its neighbor - find a "collective solution" with the help of random movements that help them find the best growth directions.

The study by scientists at Tel Aviv University in Israel, working with colleagues at the University of Colorado, Boulder, in the United States sheds light on a puzzle that has occupied researchers since Darwin, namely the functional role of such inherent movements called circumnutations.

Study leader Professor Yasm