This Cyborg Rose Can Grow Fully Functional Supercapacitors In Its Stem And Leaves

So this is a weird one. But that's technology for you, isn't it? Some scientists make a discovery that seems to come out of nowhere, and it's so strange you can't even imagine how they'd think of such a thing, but once they've figured out how to harness it, before long it becomes normal. We might not see cyborg roses become normal in our lifetimes, however. That doesn't make them any less cool.

In 2015, researchers at Sweden's Linkoping University revealed that they had created a "cyborg rose" that soaked up a special conductive solution, allowing them to conduct electricity without damaging the plant.

Current could flow along the rose's xylem and phloem without affecting its ability to transport water or nutrients. The rose pulled the solution into its own tissues and created real, polymer wires inside itself. It was a cool, weird experiment, but at the time, the researchers weren't entirely sure what to do with their cyborg roses. 

The researchers have been working with the cyborg roses since then, however, and they've found some amazing properties.

For one, they could charge their roses hundreds of times without affecting performance, and for another, they can spread the solution throughout the whole plant, even into the leaves and petals rather than just the stem. Refining their solution further provided higher conductivity, and the solution penetrated deeper tissues.  

"The levels of energy storage we have achieved are of the same order of magnitude as those in supercapacitors," said Eleni Stavrinidou, Linkoping's Assistant Professor at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics. "The plant can... potentially power our ion pump, for example, and various types of sensors."

Eleni points to autonomous energy systems, harvesting energy to power sensors and switches, and creating fuel cells within plants as possible applications for the cyborg roses. 

And who knows what other options the future will bring. Maybe one day we'll literally power our homes through our gardens. Well, maybe our grandkids will. 

It's completely, utterly weird to think of circuits and supercapacitors growing inside roses, but talk about an incredible idea. You can read the researchers' findings in Science Advances.

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