Researchers already knew that the research lab fave could sense light but that’s not all, says MIT biology post-doc, Dipon Ghosh:
The new results show that the worms are “actually comparing ratios of wavelengths, and using that information to make decisions,” he says. “And that, I think, was completely surprising and unexpected.” …
Anne Hart, a neuroscientist at Brown University who also was not involved in the work, echoes that reaction. “I think the biggest implication is probably: don’t underestimate the invertebrates,” she says. Hart calls the study’s results “surprising and fascinating,” but says they make sense given that bacteria are thought to produce pigments to aid them in infecting hosts. “There’s every reason for other organisms like C. elegans who have to deal with them to cue in on color and pigment as something to be avoided in some scenarios.”
Shawna Williams, “Eyeless C. elegans Perceives Colors: Study” at The Scientist
The paper is closed access.
Of course, life forms can somehow happen upon all this information-gathering machinery via natural selection acting on random mutations (Darwinism). Right? If that were true, stones would be coming to life and they aren’t.