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Scientists Challenge ‘Eclipse-Sensing’ Trees, Blame Weather and Lightning for Forest Signals
Researchers argue the synchronized electrical activity in Dolomites' spruce trees was triggered by a thunderstorm and nearby lightning, not the partial solar eclipse, citing 20 lightning strikes nearby.
- Researchers led by A. Chiolerio and Gagliano reported synchronized electrical signals in Norway spruce at the Dolomites site about 14 hours before the April last year eclipse, as per their April 2025 study.
- Rather than an eclipse cue, the critics point to a thunderstorm and temperature drop, with Ariel Novoplansky, evolutionary ecologist, Ben‑Gurion University, and Hezi Yizhaq, Ben‑Gurion University, citing 20 lightning strikes within about 27 miles from the October 22–25, 2022 regional lightning dataset.
- With just three living trees and five stumps sampled, Novoplansky noted the limitation restricts generality, while observers argue older, larger trees showed stronger signals possibly due to local lightning impacts.
- Chiolerio and Gagliano defended their work, noting it was preliminary and follow-up studies are ongoing, as reported in early February 2026 in Trends in Plant Science.
- Researchers should replicate the work across multiple eclipses and sites, as plant electrome research is nascent and needs site-resolved environmental measurements before assigning causation.
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Forest's Strange Response to an Eclipse May Have a More Mundane Explanation
In a controversial study published in April last year, researchers described an astonishing phenomenon: a forest of Norway spruce trees (Picea abies) appeared to 'sync' their electrical signaling ahead of a partial solar eclipse.
·Australia
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Did trees in the Dolomites anticipate a solar eclipse? Not quite, say researchers
Around 14 hours before a partial solar eclipse passed over the Dolomites in Northern Italy, a group of spruce trees showed a sudden, synchronized increase in electrical activity. Previous research by Alessandro Chiolerio and others claimed that the trees were anticipating and preparing for the impending solar eclipse.
·United Kingdom
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Are trees preparing for a solar eclipse? Or is this "a blatant case of excessive speculation"? Norway spruce trees in the Italian Dolomites…
·Netherlands (Kingdom of the)
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Total News Sources8
Leaning Left2Leaning Right0Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution67% Center
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources are Center
67% Center
L 33%
C 67%
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