D
Plants do not listen to the radio. But a team of researchers in Greece recently found a way
to turn lemons into very small “radio stations” that can broadcast information about their trees’ moisture content to a smartphone—the first step toward creating what the researchers call an “Internet of plants.”
Scientists had previously attached sensors to trees to measure their water use, but “no other team had created a wireless radio network among plants, sending information while consuming only a few microwatts and costing just a few dollars,” says project leader Aggelos Bletsas, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Technical University of Crete.
The network consists of several basic components: an existing FM radio station, an antenna (天线) attached to a lemon growing on a tree, a humidity (湿度) sensor in the lemon, a transistor connected to an antenna and an FM receiver. First, the antenna picks up the signal from the FM station, and then passes the signal to the transistor, which is modulated by the humidity sensor. The sensor switches the transistor on and off at a rate dependent on the plant’s moisture level: if the soil is wet or if the atmosphere is humid, that rate is lower; if it is dry, the rate is higher. Finally, the antenna broadcasts this information to the radio receiver on a mobile phone.
In this way, plants can tell farmers if they are thirsty. “We can literally ‘listen’ to the moisture of the plant, using our mobile FM radio with a $3.4 sensor,” Bletsas says. “Two of these sensors for every acre on any given farm might change the way we conduct agriculture and ‘understand’ plants.” He notes that more sensors may be needed for the best possible results. Such real-time information could enable better control of air and soil moisture.
Why go through all this trouble and not just use already common wireless technology, such as Bluetooth? “Not only is our technique less complex, as we are just borrowing signals in the environment,” Bletsas says, but “a Bluetooth-based sensor costs about $25. Our final aim is to launch sensors onto the market costing less than $1.”
“Bletsas and his team are completely changing the way of environmental sensing using very simple equipment and surprisingly little power,” says Alexandros Dimakis, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, who was not involved in the research. “Their work could be a transformational Internet of Things technology for agriculture and for monitoring the environment.”
Bletsas and his colleagues have already applied for a patent for their innovative
technology in America.
42. The radio network created by Greek researchers _________.
A. consumes much energy
B. can be put in a smartphone
C. uses simple technology at low cost
D. broadcasts radio programs to plants
43. What does the underlined word “modulated” in Paragraph 3 mean?
A. Monitored. B. Adjusted. C. Measured. D. Connected.
44. What is Alexandros Dimakis’ attitude to the “radio network”?
A. Positive. B. Critical. C. Neutral. D. Doubtful.
45. What is the purpose of the passage?
A. To discuss methods of studying plants.
B. To assess the efficiency of Internet of plants.
C. To stress the importance of keeping soil’s moisture.
D. To introduce a new way of measuring plants’ water use.
42. C 43. B 44. A 45. D
Plants do not listen to the radio. But a team of researchers in Greece recently found a way
to turn lemons into very small “radio stations” that can broadcast information about their trees’ moisture content to a smartphone—the first step toward creating what the researchers call an “Internet of plants.”
Scientists had previously attached sensors to trees to measure their water use, but “no other team had created a wireless radio network among plants, sending information while consuming only a few microwatts and costing just a few dollars,” says project leader Aggelos Bletsas, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Technical University of Crete.
The network consists of several basic components: an existing FM radio station, an antenna (天线) attached to a lemon growing on a tree, a humidity (湿度) sensor in the lemon, a transistor connected to an antenna and an FM receiver. First, the antenna picks up the signal from the FM station, and then passes the signal to the transistor, which is modulated by the humidity sensor. The sensor switches the transistor on and off at a rate dependent on the plant’s moisture level: if the soil is wet or if the atmosphere is humid, that rate is lower; if it is dry, the rate is higher. Finally, the antenna broadcasts this information to the radio receiver on a mobile phone.
In this way, plants can tell farmers if they are thirsty. “We can literally ‘listen’ to the moisture of the plant, using our mobile FM radio with a $3.4 sensor,” Bletsas says. “Two of these sensors for every acre on any given farm might change the way we conduct agriculture and ‘understand’ plants.” He notes that more sensors may be needed for the best possible results. Such real-time information could enable better control of air and soil moisture.
Why go through all this trouble and not just use already common wireless technology, such as Bluetooth? “Not only is our technique less complex, as we are just borrowing signals in the environment,” Bletsas says, but “a Bluetooth-based sensor costs about $25. Our final aim is to launch sensors onto the market costing less than $1.”
“Bletsas and his team are completely changing the way of environmental sensing using very simple equipment and surprisingly little power,” says Alexandros Dimakis, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, who was not involved in the research. “Their work could be a transformational Internet of Things technology for agriculture and for monitoring the environment.”
Bletsas and his colleagues have already applied for a patent for their innovative
technology in America.
42. The radio network created by Greek researchers _________.
A. consumes much energy
B. can be put in a smartphone
C. uses simple technology at low cost
D. broadcasts radio programs to plants
43. What does the underlined word “modulated” in Paragraph 3 mean?
A. Monitored. B. Adjusted. C. Measured. D. Connected.
44. What is Alexandros Dimakis’ attitude to the “radio network”?
A. Positive. B. Critical. C. Neutral. D. Doubtful.
45. What is the purpose of the passage?
A. To discuss methods of studying plants.
B. To assess the efficiency of Internet of plants.
C. To stress the importance of keeping soil’s moisture.
D. To introduce a new way of measuring plants’ water use.
42. C 43. B 44. A 45. D
