General, Research, Technology

Venus flytrap: what is this plant and how can it be controlled?

In the swamps of the American states of Florida andOne of the most unusual plants in the world, the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) can be found in New Jersey. You've probably seen it in photographs or even live, because some people grow them at home. These plants are amazing in that they carry traps that look like the open mouths of dangerous predators. When an insect lands on one of these traps, the two "jaws" quickly collapse and the plant begins to digest its prey. This is a very unusual feature that scientists have been studying for a long time. At the moment, researchers can not only tell a lot of interesting information about the Venus flytrap, but also control its movements using a smartphone. Scientists from Singapore recently reported this and even demonstrated their technology on video. Let's find out what features the Venus flytrap has and how can it be controlled?

Venus flytrap is an amazing plant from which a cyborg was recently made

Who is the Venus flytrap?

The Venus flytrap got its name fromRoman goddess of love Venus. The plant has a very short stem, from which 4 to 7 leaves are drawn. The leaves reach 7 cm in length. From time to time, the flycatcher blooms, after which the traps mentioned at the beginning of the article appear. Usually, a carnivorous plant can be seen in the swamps of the United States, which have very little nitrogen. Since nitrogen is a very important component for plant growth, the flycatcher must obtain it from other sources. A sufficient amount of nitrogen for life is contained in the organisms of insects and that is why the plant feeds on them. The flycatcher is especially fond of ants, spiders, beetles, grasshoppers and flying insects like flies.

Fly trapped by a predatory plant

The flycatcher catches its victims with a trap,which is formed from the edge parts of the leaves. There are several hairs on their surface, the touch of which makes the trapping apparatus close. For this only, it is important that at least two hairs are affected - this is necessary so that the trap does not work when water and debris gets in. If a fly lands on the plant and touches the hairs for more than 20 seconds, the trap will slam shut. At the same time, it turns into a kind of stomach, inside which digestion takes place. During its entire life, only about 10 insects fall into the flycatcher's traps.

See also: What do the ugliest flowers in the world look like?

How do you manage plants?

Recently in the scientific journal Nature Electronics waspublished an article on how scientists managed to control the flytrap trap using a smartphone. In short, Singaporean scientists led by Professor Xiaodong Chen attached wires to the trap. By applying electrical discharges, they were able to provoke a collapse of the trap. According to them, 1.5 volts of energy is enough to activate this simple mechanism. The most interesting thing is that they have developed a special iOS application Flytrap Controller for control. It seems that the time of mechanical switches is behind us now it is faster and easier to create a smartphone application for this purpose.

Perhaps in the future, this trap will become part of some kind of robot.

In general, hybrids of insects and electronicdevices have been around for a long time. Researchers have long realized that instead of creating moving reconnaissance vehicles, they could mate electronics and insects. For example, if scientists need to get to some hard-to-reach place and take air samples, they can install sensors on the back of a bug and send it to the right place. You can also control his movements using electrical stimulation. Earlier, I wrote about a similar invention - American engineers turned locusts into cyborgs capable of searching for explosives. You can read more about this by clicking on the link.

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According to statistics, on our planetabout 390,900 plant species grow and their number is constantly growing. The fact is that every year scientists discover species that people did not even know existed for a long time. Among these plants there are very strange species: some give off a smelly smell, while others look very much like the helmet of Darth Vader from Star Wars. You can find out more about unusual plants and look at their photos in this material. Enjoy reading!