January 22, 2018

AOW #17-Responding to "Could glowing plants replace light bulbs?" By Nicola Davison

January 22, 2018

This Week's Focus: 

Argument

Article Category: Science and Technology

 Link to Article:  Could glowing plants replace light bulbs? (January 22, 2018)

With the technology Michael Strano, who is a professor of chemical engineering at MIT, is performing concerning the plants, there could possibly be a breakthrough where plants could help benefit as the future artificial light. A study conducted in Youngstown, Ohio showed that greener areas of the city experienced less crime. Another one showed that employees were shown to be 15% more productive when their sparse workplaces were decorated with houseplants. Strano explains that MIT is thinking about how they can engineer plants to replace functions of the devices that we encounter every day. These include plants that have sensors printed onto their leaves to show when they're short of water; one that can record and transmit 3D images of its surroundings; and even a plant that can detect chemicals used in explosives in groundwater. This could possibly help reduce energy consumption since lighting accounts for about 7% of the total electricity consumed in the US. Since lighting is often far removed from the power source -- such as the distance from a power plant to street lamps on a remote highway -- a lot of energy is lost during transmission. Glowing plants could reduce this distance and therefore help save energy. Completing this goal or abstract idea could help save many year's worth of light energy and could ultimately help save humanity as a whole from not having to worry about overusing energy in the long run.