streetchat

Could glowing trees light our streets? Engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) say cities may be able to cut back on power use and emissions with plants and trees that glow at night. If successful, MIT hopes their research could be used to provide low-intensity indoor lighting, or transform trees into self-powered streetlights, according to the Urban Developer. Currently researchers have embedded specialised nanoparticles, including the chemical that gives fireflies their glow, into the leaves of watercress plants. The plants were shown to give off a dim glow for nearly four hours. This new method avoids the need to introduce a glowing gene into the plant, a far more laborious task, and with further optimisation the engineers say they could light up a desktop – or even a streetscape. “Plants can self-repair, they have their own energy, …