CrowdScience listener George is showing Alex Lathbridge around a small, dark, and extremely hot shed, just outside the city of Accra in Ghana. Inside are row after row of shelves, stacked high with bulging grow-bags. And out of some of them, gorgeous cascades of oyster mushrooms are bursting into bloom.

We’re on George’s mushroom farm, and he’s noticed something interesting. Even though the conditions in his grow-shed are tightly controlled – they have exactly the same food, water, and light as each other – nevertheless, they respond differently. Some are more vigorous than others, some bloom quicker, others last longer, and some are more tolerant when the conditions change. And this got George wondering. Could ‘brainless’ lifeforms like mushrooms, and plants, have different ‘personalities’? Do they experience the world differently, and live their lives differently from each other? Alex Lathbridge is on the case.

He visits the PGRRI, the Plant Genetic Resources Research Centre, for a quick lesson on genetic variation in the plant world. Plants are all different at the genetic level, and it’s those differences which can result in a tastier fruit, or a hardier crop. But would we call traits like these personality?

In the Minimal Intelligence Lab in the University of Murcia in Spain, Paco Calvo thinks that we absolutely should. He studies plant intelligence, and points Alex to a whole host of examples of plants being smart in ways which might surprise you. Each one is an individual, and if we can only slow down enough to appreciate them properly, we’d be able to understand them better too.

Back in Ghana, Alex meets plant physiologist Dr Acheampong Atta-Boateng, in the beautiful grounds of Aburi Botanical Gardens, to meet some of these plants for himself. And he discovers that there’s a whole world of smart, resilient, and resourceful little organisms in the plant world, full of personality, if you know where to look. Who needs a brain!?

Presenter: Alex Lathbridge

Producer: Emily Knight

Editor: Ben Motley

(Photo: Drawing of a face and smiling eyes on a sunflower flower - stock photo- Credit: Jose A. Bernat Bacete via Getty Images)

Why is there such a variety of tongues in the animal kingdom? CrowdScience listener Dale has observed that his dog’s tongue is different from his and so is his cat’s.  He’d like to know the reason.

Caroline Steel visits London Zoo in the UK to find out more about the different types of tongues - from giraffes and birds to lizards.

She talks to evolutionary biologist Kurt Schwenk, who explains that the development of tongues made it possible for animals to make the leap from the sea to life on land. Fish could rely on water to help them swallow food, but air and gravity required a whole different mechanism for having dinner.

But why is there such a variety of tongues between species - from the forked tongue of a snake to the rough tongue of a cat? And does it all come down to our diets?

Researcher Callum Ross reveals how he’s pioneered a new technique for investigating how animals use their tongues when they eat and drink, and why tongues are so important for swallowing.

Presenter: Caroline Steel

Producer: Jo Glanville

Editor: Ben Motley

(Photo: Giraffe licking its lips - stock photo - Credit: laurenepbath via Getty Images)

CrowdScience listener Daniel in Accra, Ghana is an introvert. Or at least, he thinks he is. And he’s worried that his preference for quiet spaces and lower social interaction might be holding him back in life. But what is introversion really? How do introverts and extroverts see the world differently? And is it better to be one or the other?

Presenter Alex Lathbridge spends his working days talking to interesting people like Daniel. He loves meeting people, and talking to them too, yet he also thinks that deep down, he might be an introvert. To understand how and why people come to be introverted or extraverted, and what’s happening in the brain, he pays a visit to neuroscientist Dr Thomas Tagoe from the University of Ghana Medical school, for a peek inside the mind. Turns out, introverts aren’t shy, and definitely aren’t anti-social either, despite what people might assume. The difference is more about how we process stimulation, and at what point we find it all a bit too much to process. Although sometimes it might feel like the world is built for the extraverts out there, Thomas offers some reassurance. There are huge benefits to being introverted too, and there’s room in the world for all the different personality types to thrive.

But how about in the workplace? Daniel is worried that his introversion could be holding him back at work. He feels like being good at your job is not always enough – you need to be able to network, charm people, and “work the room” if you want to succeed. So, Alex heads for the Methodist University of Ghana to meet Professor William Baah-Boateng, who has studied the effect of all the different personality types on their performance in the workplace. Is there a place for the introverts of this work to make their mark?

Presenter: Alex Lathbridge

Producer: Emily Knight

Editor: Ben Motley 

(Photo:A view of a woman's eye looking through a hole in some colorful paper-Stock Photo - Credit:PeopleImages via Getty Images)