Page 14 - Michael Strano News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

“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 explos...

Scientists have used nanotechnology to 'teach' spinach to send emails and neizens can't keep calm.

Plants are ideally suited for monitoring the environment. Engineers have transformed spinach plants into mini bio-sensors that can detect explosives and other chemical compounds and wirelessly send this information to users. Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineers used a technique called vascular infusion to embed the leaves with carbon nanotubes. The nanotubes are designed to detect chemical compounds known as nitroaromatics, which are used in landmines and other explosives. When present in groundwater, the nitroaromatic compounds are absorbed by the plant roots. The carbon nanotub...

While it’s unlikely that your email inbox would contain a message sent by spinach, it’s not impossible. In late 2016, engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) published a study [PDF] in the journal Nature Materials detailing how they taught spinach plants to transmit automatic emails. The news recently re-circulated, due in part to an updated article from Euronews, and social media users wasted no time in churning out all their best spinach-related jokes. Comical though it seems, the study wasn’t just done for fun. Basically, the researchers implanted spinach plants wit...

Answer: Yes.