Plants "Do Maths"

[James]

Plants have a built-in capacity to do maths, which helps them regulate food reserves at night, research suggests.

UK scientists say they were "amazed" to find an example of such a sophisticated arithmetic calculation in biology.

Mathematical models show that the amount of starch consumed overnight is calculated by division in a process involving leaf chemicals, a John Innes Centre team reports in e-Life journal.

Birds may use similar methods to preserve fat levels during migration.

The scientists studied the plant Arabidopsis, which is regarded as a model plant for experiments.

source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22991838

it may not seem too interesting to some, but i think it's really fascinating! of course math would be involved, but i had always figured it to be run-of-the-mill 2 + 2 sort of stuff, haha. you know it's a pretty big deal when even scientists are surprised :b
thoughts? opinions? maths of your own?

 

[Kirk]

All I can see in my head now is a sunflower with glasses and a calculator. -_-