A Remote Controlled Carnivorous Plant?

Karen Hopkin is a scientist. My name is Karen Hopkin.

You can catch more flies with honey. What if you had access to a plant that was remote controlled? A bio-inspired system can cause the snap of a Venus fly trap.

Simone Fabiano is a person. I teach at Linkping University.

The trap-springing device was created using nerve cells.

The way our biological neurons work is that they integrate information from different inputs over time, perform computation, and communicate the result to other cells by means of voltages.

Standard, Silicon-based systems are now capable of delivering electrical pulse. They suffer from a number of limitations if you want to combine them with a living project.

Such as rigidity, poor biocompatibility, complex circuit structures, and operation mechanisms are fundamentally different from those ofbiological systems.

In order to smooth biological integration, Fabiano built his system from polymers that conduct both electrons and ion. The ion is that...

Communication between biological and artificial neuralgia can be enabled.

The artificial neuron has a direct counterpart in its biological role model, according to the researchers.

There is an input terminal that acts as a dendrite.

The incoming electrical signals are collected by the dendrite and sent to aCapacitor whichintegrates the information A pulse is fired along an organic amplifier that mimics a nerve cell axon.

The frequencies of spiking are similar to biological systems because of the ionic concentration-dependence of our transistors.

The current that flows from the fake neuron to its target is controlled by the ion. There was a dramatic demonstration of the potential of neuromorphic design that should give engineers interested.

Karen Hopkin is for Scientific American's 60-second science.

This is a transcript of the show.