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 with carbon nanotubes that emitted a fluorescent signal when they sensed nitroaromatic compounds a common component in explosives in the soil. An infrared camera would register that fluorescence, which would prompt a small computer attached to the camera to send an email alert straight to a researcher’s inbox.
Scientists teach spinach to send emails â and Twitter can t handle it
Professor Michael Strano from MIT said that his team s new research was a novel demonstration of how we have overcome the plant-to-human communication barrier
Using nanotechnology, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology re-engineered spinach plants to give them extraordinary abilities (Image: SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The Daily Star s FREE newsletter is spectacular! Sign up today for the best stories straight to your inboxInvalid EmailSomething went wrong, please try again later.
Sign up today!
When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes theyâll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. OurPrivacy Noticeexplains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Plants automatically sample groundwater and carbon nanotubes enable variance detection
The plants can detect nitroaromatic compounds (associated with explosives) present in groundwater that they naturally sample. Upon detection, embedded carbon nanotubes (CNTs) emit a fluorescent signal readable by an infrared camera. The camera can be coupled to a Raspberry Pi handheld computer programmed to email warnings.
Interestingly, MIT graduate Min Hao Wong has started a company called Plantea to further develop this technology.
Twitter Post
Yours sincerely, Spinach Are you sure you want to unsubscribe from Ronnie (aka spinach plant 331, row 9?) https://t.co/2WzPhsqepK Bart King (@BartKing) February 1, 2021
Details