No, it’s not the plot of a bizarre science-fiction film.
Engineers working at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US have engineered spinach plants that are capable of sending their own emails.
The way it works doesn’t sound too complicated – basically, when the spinach roots detect nitroaromatics in groundwater, groups of compounds found in industrial chemicals, carbon nano tubes in the plant emit a signal.
This signal is read by an infrared camera, which sends an email to notify scientists.
If you’ve ever spent three hours trying (and failing) to update your email signature, you’ll appreciate how incredible this technology is.
Professor Michael Strano, who led the study, says the purpose of this experiment was to detect explosives (!), but there are other interesting potential applications.
“Plants are very environmentally responsive,” Strano says.
“They know that there is going to be a drought long before we do. They can detect small changes in the properties of soil and water potential. If we tap into those chemical signaling pathways, there is a wealth of information to access.”
So who knows – the day where you receive a chain email from your garden salad might not be too far off!
