The weekly newsletter for Fed2 by ibgames

EARTHDATE: June 14, 2009

Official News page 5


REAL LIFE NEWS: MOBILE PHONES HELP THIRSTY PLANTS

by Hazed

My home is full of plants because despite living in the middle of a city, I like to surround myself with green and growing things. But sometimes I forget to water them and they stop being green and growing, and become brown and dying.

If only there were a way for the plants to alert me to the fact that they need water!

Well, a new invention does just that. It's aimed at farmers but I see no reason it wouldn't work just as well for houseplants. It's a tiny sensor which clips onto the plant's leaf, and when it detects that the plant needs water, it sends a text message to the farmer.

This isn't just good for the plants, it could save farmers a lot of money. In areas where water comes from underground aquifers, such as much of the Western US, conserving water and only irrigating the crops when they need it not only saves water but also saves the electricity used to pump it to the surface and across fields. This could save a farmer hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

This useful piece of technology has come out of the space program. The original cell phone for plants for developed years ago by NASA scientists.

Read more about it here.

Let's hope somebody does come up with a home version, too!


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