Memo: New EU-funded tech: it’s time for the plants to start talking back

on 6 June 2014 it was announced that scientists in Spain, Italy and the UK have developed a way to monitor the effect of climate change and pollution on the environment, by creating a special kind of plant which have in-built sensors.

The PLEASED project (PLants Employed As SEnsing Devices), led by the Italian SME WLAB and part funded by the EU has developed ‘talking plants’ which act as environmental monitors. Once inside the plant, the micro-sensors collect the plant's signals, analyse them, combine them with those of other plants nearby, and produce a clear analysis of the environment around it.