In an interesting turn of events, plants can now send us emails. Sort of. The situation is a bit more complicated than that. Scientists have engineered spinach plants into sensors. The plants can now detect explosive materials and wirelessly relay the information back to scientists. If the spinach roots detect an explosive compound in groundwater, the plant will emit a signal, which will be read by an infrared camera that will send an email alert to the scientists:
This experiment is part of a wider field of research which involves engineering electronic components and systems into plants. The technology is known as “plant nanobionics”, and is effectively the process of giving plants new abilities.
“Plants are very good analytical chemists,” explains Professor Michael Strano who led the research. “They have an extensive root network in the soil, are constantly sampling groundwater, and have a way to self-power the transport of that water up into the leaves.”
“This is a novel demonstration of how we have overcome the plant/human communication barrier,” he adds.
Image via Euronews
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