http://ift.tt/2gME3Gk Technology Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT ) have ingrained carbon nanotubes inside spinach leaves, turning the leaves into sensing units which are able to communicate with humans. This particular application is amongst the 1st demos of plant nanobionics, an area of research that rig electronic systems inside living plants. “The goal of plant nanobionics is to install nanoparticles into the plant in order to give it non-native functionalities,” MIT Carbon P. Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering Michael Strano explained. In this particular instance, the carbon nanotubes inserted in plants were fabricated to sense nitroaromatics, chemical compounds commonly used in bombs, present within groundwater. Upon detection, the leaves of the spinach plant produce a fluorescent signal which an infrared camera connected to a smartphone-sized computer examines. The computing device then wirelessly delivers an e-mail to alert about the chemi
