Hi guys. Hope you've had a great Sunday! Welcome back to another blog entry. We will talk about two different articles today.
First of all I just want to ask you guys, what do you think happened on Malaysian flight 370? I mean how have the authorities not found the plane yet! I personally think it was a hijacking instead of a malfunction. Anyways, it would be great to hear your thoughts and opinions on what happened on flight 370.
Now onto our first article about bionic plants. A team of biologists have successfully turned the flower Arabidopsis thaliana into a pollutant detector with carbon nanotubes. This achievement is pretty amazing as it is but they also want to turn plants into chemical warfare detectors that can sniff out sarin gas (a gas used in chemical warfare) or explosives. The biologists have published a very interesting article, called “Nature Materials”, explaining in depth about their discoveries. 
The team firstly began by trying to boost the plant’s ability to absorb sunlight to make sure it would still thrive while working as a detector. To do this, the team put a special type of substance called cerium oxide nanoparticles which was wrapped in polyacrylic acid. The acid delivered carbon nanotubes which helped the chloroplasts absorb different wavelengths of light. This technique together made the chloroplasts thrive for an additional seven hours. When they tried this technique on the Arabidopsis thaliana, they found it boosted energy capture by 30%. 
So how does this detect pollution? In plants nitric oxide is a pollutant that contributes to acid rain. The nanoparticles in the pores of the leaves were wrapped in a polymer that made the nanotubes change appearance if nitric oxide bound to it. The system can also detect different molecules such as hydrogen peroxide, TNT and nerve gas in tests unrelated to plants.
This is obviously a very basic to sniffing out everyday pollution but it’s a start. You can only wonder how this technology will apply to our everyday lives and even military uses. I would be interesting to use these plants to show us our pollution emission based on household appliances (I’m not sure exactly what household appliances contribute to pollution but I’m sure there are some). In terms of the military, these plants could be a safer version of mine detectors that could be a safer and more reliable than previous bomb detectors. Amazing how much technology is evolving. 
Next we have an article on an interesting use of smartphones. At the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, blood tests have now been developed to be performed with Samsung Galaxy S4 screen. Developed by Qloudlab, this tool is developed for people undergoing anticoagulant treatment which prevents blood clots from forming in the arteries or veins. The main aim of this invention is to see that the patient with thinned blood isn’t at risk of bleeding.
For the test, the system uses a single-use film made out of a microstructured plastic layer on top of the screen (the prototype uses an S4 screen but Qloudlab is confident it will work on other models). A drop of blood from your finger touches and enters the film which makes the blood coagulate. An app on the screen will then tell the patient if there are any disruptions which can then be analysed to tell if the patient if they are at a risk of bleeding. The team is also looking to adapt the system to test for other blood related conditions such as looking for blood glucose levels in diabetes. 
So far this idea seems pretty amazing making it a lot easier and safer for patients suffering from different blood diseases. As well as making it more convenient I can imagine that it makes it a lot safer for the patients allowing them to check their blood before any serious conditions evolve. Qloudlab says they hope for their product to reach the commercial market in 2015.
Sources:
CNN image: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/17/opinion/bergen-flight-370-terrorism-role/index.html?hpt=hp_c1
Bionic plants article: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-03/17/bionic-plants-sense-explosives
Arabidopsis thaliana pic:
Cerium oxide nanoparticles:
Blood test article:
Qloudlab picture:
Blood test picture:
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