Glowing Trees Will Replace Light Bulbs in the Future

“Glowing trees” may one day light up our homes in the future.

The relationship between humans and plants has long been a subject of scientific interest. Recent studies have found positive effects. Photo: @Euronews.

For example, a study conducted in Youngstown, Ohio found that greener areas of the city had less crime. In another study, employees were found to be 15% more productive when working in areas decorated with plants. Photo: @ Behance.

However, engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have gone one step further, by intervening in the actual composition of plants, to make them perform many different, even strange, functions. Photo: @Getty.

They created plants with sensors printed on their leaves to signal when the plant is lacking water; one plant can record and transmit 3D images of its surroundings. Photo: @UPI.

These prototypes belong to the emerging field of “nanobionic plants,” a field of study and term coined by Michael Strano, a professor of chemical engineering at MIT. The term combines two concepts: “bionic” means giving living things new artificial biological capabilities, by infusing “nano” particles (particles smaller than 100 nanometers) directly into the plant. Photo: @Aranca.

And in a remarkable invention, Michael Strano, a professor of chemical engineering at MIT, made watercress plants glow in the lab. Photo: @MIT.

By embedding specialized light-emitting nanoparticles into the leaves of watercress plants, Michael Strano's team found that they could produce a weak glow for three and a half hours. Photo: @MIT.

In this study, watercress leaves were first soaked in a nanoparticle solution and then exposed to high pressure, causing the nanoparticles to enter the leaves through tiny pores on the leaves. Photo: @MIT.

Once inside, these nanoparticles release a light-emitting compound called luciferin, and luciferase, an enzyme that stimulates activity, makes this luciferin glow. In this way, the light is powered by the plant's own metabolism. Photo: @MIT.

“Plants capture energy from the sun and store it as sugar inside the plant. What we’re doing is taking some of that chemical energy stored in the plant and using it to power this artificial light-emitting mechanism,” said Michael Strano. Photo: @MIT.

In the future, MIT lab experts hope to develop a version of the technology that can spray glowing nano-particles onto leaves or saplings in a single treatment, and that the plant will glow for the duration of its life. Engineers are also working on developing an on-and-off “bioswitch” that would cause the bioluminescent plant to dim when exposed to daylight, and automatically brighten at night. Photo: @MIT.

Dear Readers, please watch the video : Creepy With A ROBOT That Looks So Realistically Like A Human - "Usurping" Humanity In The Future? Video source: @Top 1 Discovery.

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