If we talk to you about police dogs specialized in bomb detection, it will not seem strange to you at all; On the other hand, things change if we tell you that a super healthy and beneficial food like spinach is also capable of signaling the presence of explosives , like a skilled hound.
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have managed to transform something as simple as a spinach plant into a device capable of locating bombs.
To do this, they have embedded carbon nanotubes in the leaves of the plants that allow them to detect, through the groundwater that reaches them through the roots, chemical compounds – known as nitroaromatics – that are often used in manufacturing landmines and other explosives.
By locating the presence of these dangerous elements, the nanotubes of these nanobionic plants emit a fluorescent signal that a mini infrared camera is able to read . In turn, it is connected to a small computer simulating a smartphone, which is responsible for sending an email to the user to inform him of the finding.
“This is a novel demonstration of how we have overcome the communication barriers between plants and humans,” explains Michael Strano, professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT and lead author of this study, which has recently seen the light of day in the journal Nature Materials .
” Plants are very good at analyzing chemical compounds ,” Strano emphasizes. “They have an extensive network of roots in the soil, they are constantly sampling groundwater and are capable of transporting that water up to the leaves,” says the professor.
The obvious application of this new advance is in the field of defense and security, although, according to the authors of the research, it could also be used to monitor the environment and, for example, carry out an early detection of the presence. pollutants and a possible drought.
Image: Christine Daniloff / MIT
