Cyborg plant you say...?

Tech Xplor reported on a plant cyborg that was able to decide which light source it wanted to travel to. How is this possible? Well, from the MIT Media Lab, researchers put "its potted base on wheels fitted with electronics and an electric motor." It's name is Elowan.

The idea is reasonably simple—place sensors that listen to the electrical signals generated by a plant and then convert those signals to commands carried out by the motorized wheels. The result is a plant that can respond to changes in light direction by moving itself closer to the source. The researchers proved this by placing the cyborg between two table lamps and then turned them on or off. The plant moved itself, with no prodding, toward the light that was turned on.

The video above explains more. It is really fascinating they used the natural signal from the plant in order to allow it to go through the electronics and adjust itself where the light was located. Their hopes in this are to "pave a way to power our future electronics naturally." This is pretty neat. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Note: All images not cited are my own or created by me.

Be well!