Nanoparticles Turn Houseplants Into Night Lights (newatlas.com)
- Reference: 0178922450
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/0030247/nanoparticles-turn-houseplants-into-night-lights
- Source link: https://newatlas.com/biology/glow-inducing-nanoparticles-houseplants-lights/
> Wouldn't it be great if the plants in your home could do more than just sit there looking pretty? Researchers at South China Agricultural University in the city of Guangzhou have found a way to upgrade them into soft glowing night lights in a range of hues, [2]with the use of nanoparticles . The team developed a light-emitting phosphor compound that enabled succulents with fleshy leaves to charge in sunlight or indoor LED light in just a couple of minutes, and then emit a soft uniform glow that lasts up to two hours. The afterglow phosphor compound -- which is similar to those found in glow-in-the-dark toys -- is inexpensive, biocompatible, and negates the need for more complex methods of infusing bioluminescence in plants, like genetic modification. It simply gets injected into the leaves.
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> [...] Beyond modifying a commercial compound for this project, the team also had to figure out the right size for the phosphor particles so they'd work as intended inside plants. Shuting Liu, first author on [3]the study that appeared in Matter this week , noted, "Smaller, nano-sized particles move easily within the plant but are dimmer. Larger particles glowed brighter but couldn't travel far inside the plant." Through extensive testing, the researchers arrived at an optimal size of around 7 micrometers, about the width of a red blood cell. They also determined through experimentation that the particles worked best in succulents, rather than plants with thinner leaves like bok choy.
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> Once they'd landed on the right particle size, loading concentration, and plant type, the team found that the phosphor material diffused into succulent leaves almost instantly, and uniformly lit up entire leaves -- enough to illuminate nearby objects. The scientists were also able to create modified phosphors that glowed in colors like green, red, and blue. That could make for novel indoor or garden decor, as well as pathway lighting. These luminous plants also don't cost much -- according to Liu, "Each plant takes about 10 minutes to prepare and costs a little over 10 yuan (about $1.4), not including labor." Over the course of 10 days, the injected plants didn't show any signs of damage, yellowing, structural integrity, or even reduced levels of chlorophyll.
[1] https://slashdot.org/~cristiroma
[2] https://newatlas.com/biology/glow-inducing-nanoparticles-houseplants-lights/
[3] https://www.cell.com/matter/fulltext/S2590-2385(25)00413-8
Glowing houseplants? (Score:2)
I've seen this movie. [1]It uses 96 batteries. [getyarn.io]
[1] https://www.getyarn.io/yarn-clip/1210e05e-baf6-4487-9bd6-e8ff2da85c29
"Wouldn't it be great..." (Score:2)
"...if the plants in your home could do more than just sit there looking pretty?"
No, I'd rather they just sit there and look pretty. That's why I bought them and placed them in my house.
Nanoparticles? You mean like microplastics? (Score:3)
I thought artificial particles on the scale of micrometers were bad for the environment. Now they want to produce them intentionally, and have them injected into houseplants? What happens to these particles when the plant dies? What if a pet or child eats the plants with these microplastics... I mean, nanoparticles in them?
I realize someone will want to point to how the plastics are somehow reacting with the body while these glowing nanoparticles are intentionally made to be "biocompatible" so as to not harm the plant. Well, if the microplastics are claimed to last in the environment for millions of years then just how reactive can they be? I'd be more concerned about the plastics if I knew they were breaking down in the body, but it sounds like they just kind of sit there like little bits of sand. Don't people realize that humans lived with "nanoparticles" since before humans were human? Doesn't sand and other little bits collect in the body too? What harm do those do? Apparently not much if we can intentionally inject them into plants to make them glow and not see any real harm to the plant.
I'm going on a rant here because of the hypocrisy. Either small little bits of inert materials do harm or they don't.
If this becomes a thing then I'd expect the next step to be injecting this stuff, or something like it, into pets. Then it's people injecting this into themselves. At some point there's going to have to be a realization that small little inert bits of material are bad or they aren't. My guess is they aren't because it seems clear to me that natural wear on rock, wood, and so much else produces little bits "the size of red blood cells" and they've been just blowing around in the wind for billions of years and humans have evolved to deal with that. If evolution didn't develop means to survive this then injecting plants with glowing bits that are only micrometers across should have some detrimental effects.
If I'm off my rocker here then maybe someone can point to where I went wrong.
How do dispose of it? Is it compostable? (Score:1)
Nanoparticles the size of blood cells sounds creepy. Do these end up in the soil and then in other plants/herbs/veggies? Do the plant owners know how to properly dispose of these organic-inorganic hybrids? We're already having to replace our garden topsoil due to lead contamination from the 70's. I don't love the idea of our city's compost soil containing nanoparticles, but maybe it's fine and normal?
Bright guys (Score:2)
If you can poison plants, you can also be poison yourselves.
Re: (Score:2)
Perhaps. But can you do (fill in the blank)?
Note: I'm not going to tell you what goes into the blank. You have to answer without having this information.
Light pollution is not always a good thing (Score:2)
Moths are drawn to artificial light sources, this as they use the light source to facilitate finding a mate, and whilst you could potentially argue this is "natural", these plants will end up spreading in the outdoor environment, and we end up upsetting nature.
[1]https://butterfly-conservation... [butterfly-...vation.org]
[2]https://www.sciencedirect.com/... [sciencedirect.com]
[1] https://butterfly-conservation.org/news-and-blog/why-is-light-pollution-bad-for-moths
[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1439179121000967
How stupid is this? (Score:3)
You could just paste any of the "glow in the dark" junk that sells in every 100 yen shop equivalent worldwide and don't poison your plants.