“Plants are very good analytical chemists,” explains Professor Michael Strano told EuroNews. “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.” But it’s hard to really talk to plants (though heaven knows I try all the time to talk to my plants, they don’t talk back in very detailed ways). “This is a novel demonstration of how we have overcome the plant/human communication barrier.” Plant nanobionics is an entire field and, while this experiment was to detect explosives, it can do more, like detect pollution and other environmental issues. Strano has already done this as well, altering how his subject plants photosynthesize to detect the pollutants nitric oxide.