Sunday, 23 October 2011
Smart Solutions From The Plant Kingdom: beyond the animal models
This is the title of the exciting workshop organized by Stefano Mancuso together with Barbara Mazzolai, from the Centre for Micro-BioRobotics of IIT@SSSA.
The workshop will be held on October 24, 2011 at Accademia dei Georgofili in Florence (Italy) with the aims of: providing an authoritative overview of solutions inspired by plants; stimulating a fruitful and attractive discussion on this emerging scientific area; creating an occasion in which scientists and engineers can offer different perspectives and viewpoints in developing a new class of biomimetic solutions, which exhibit different performance in terms of materials, fabrication technologies, sensors, actuators, computing solutions, etc.; outlining the current opportunities and challenges of biomimetics approach.
The objectives of the workshop are to share and discuss in a broad community the current state of the art concerning the researches in the research areas that look at plants for as inspiration source, to analyze the potentiality of field and how it can impact in future technologies in general, as well as to encourage collaborations and inspire the exploration of novel research lines or projects.
Biomimetics is attracting the interest of a growing number of scientists and researchers worldwide. The Plant Kingdom represents an amazing source of inspiration for designing and developing smart solutions in different fields. Mimicking plants requires deep investigation of new materials, mechanisms, sensors, actuators, and control schemes and can lead to breakthrough advances of technologies. In this workshop, we wish to contribute to the discussion on the development of biomimetic solutions inspired by plants. In particular, this workshop will look at the importance of integrating knowledge coming from different fields, as biology, engineering, chemistry, computer science, and physics to conceive and develop advanced systems.
Programme:
9.00 - 9.10 Welcome - Franco Scaramuzzi, President of the Accademia dei Georgofili
9.10 - 9.20 Welcome - Barbara Mazzolai, Centre for Micro-BioRobotics@SSSA, Pontedera, Italy.
Stefano Mancuso Dpt. Plant, Soil & Environment, University of Florence, Italy
9.20 - 9.50 Barbara Mazzolai - Centre for Micro-BioRobotics of IIT@SSSA, Pontedera, Italy
Robotics and ICT technologies inspired by plants
9.50 - 10.20 Stefano Mancuso - Dpt. Plant, Soil & Environment University of Florence, Italy
Communication in plant root
10.20 - 10.50 COFFEE BREAK
10.50 - 11.35 George Jeronimidis - Centre for Biomimetics, University of Reading (UK)
Fibre hierarchies in plants: the key to smart solutions
11.35 - 12.20 Robin Seidel - Plant Biomechanics Group University Freiburg, Germany
Innovative biomimetic materials inspired by plants
12.20 - 13.05 Michaela Eder - Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Germany
Design principles of plant actuation
13.05 - 14.30 LUNCH BREAK
14.30 - 15.15 Frantisek Baluska - Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn, Germany
Growing roots and their searching behavior
15.15 - 16.00 Guido Caldarelli - Institute for Complex Systems, National Research Council (CNR), Rome, Italy
Quantifying the taxonomic diversity in real species communities
16.00 - 16.30 COFFEE BREAK
16.30 - 17.15 Paco Calvo - Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain
Adaptive behavior and direct perception: ecological lessons from plant neurobiology
17.15 - 18.00 Camilla Pandolfi - European Space Agency, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
Seeds, dispersal and biomimicry
18.00 - 18.15 Conclusions
The workshop will be held on October 24, 2011 at Accademia dei Georgofili in Florence (Italy) with the aims of: providing an authoritative overview of solutions inspired by plants; stimulating a fruitful and attractive discussion on this emerging scientific area; creating an occasion in which scientists and engineers can offer different perspectives and viewpoints in developing a new class of biomimetic solutions, which exhibit different performance in terms of materials, fabrication technologies, sensors, actuators, computing solutions, etc.; outlining the current opportunities and challenges of biomimetics approach.
The objectives of the workshop are to share and discuss in a broad community the current state of the art concerning the researches in the research areas that look at plants for as inspiration source, to analyze the potentiality of field and how it can impact in future technologies in general, as well as to encourage collaborations and inspire the exploration of novel research lines or projects.
Biomimetics is attracting the interest of a growing number of scientists and researchers worldwide. The Plant Kingdom represents an amazing source of inspiration for designing and developing smart solutions in different fields. Mimicking plants requires deep investigation of new materials, mechanisms, sensors, actuators, and control schemes and can lead to breakthrough advances of technologies. In this workshop, we wish to contribute to the discussion on the development of biomimetic solutions inspired by plants. In particular, this workshop will look at the importance of integrating knowledge coming from different fields, as biology, engineering, chemistry, computer science, and physics to conceive and develop advanced systems.
Programme:
9.00 - 9.10 Welcome - Franco Scaramuzzi, President of the Accademia dei Georgofili
9.10 - 9.20 Welcome - Barbara Mazzolai, Centre for Micro-BioRobotics@SSSA, Pontedera, Italy.
Stefano Mancuso Dpt. Plant, Soil & Environment, University of Florence, Italy
9.20 - 9.50 Barbara Mazzolai - Centre for Micro-BioRobotics of IIT@SSSA, Pontedera, Italy
Robotics and ICT technologies inspired by plants
9.50 - 10.20 Stefano Mancuso - Dpt. Plant, Soil & Environment University of Florence, Italy
Communication in plant root
10.20 - 10.50 COFFEE BREAK
10.50 - 11.35 George Jeronimidis - Centre for Biomimetics, University of Reading (UK)
Fibre hierarchies in plants: the key to smart solutions
11.35 - 12.20 Robin Seidel - Plant Biomechanics Group University Freiburg, Germany
Innovative biomimetic materials inspired by plants
12.20 - 13.05 Michaela Eder - Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Germany
Design principles of plant actuation
13.05 - 14.30 LUNCH BREAK
14.30 - 15.15 Frantisek Baluska - Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn, Germany
Growing roots and their searching behavior
15.15 - 16.00 Guido Caldarelli - Institute for Complex Systems, National Research Council (CNR), Rome, Italy
Quantifying the taxonomic diversity in real species communities
16.00 - 16.30 COFFEE BREAK
16.30 - 17.15 Paco Calvo - Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain
Adaptive behavior and direct perception: ecological lessons from plant neurobiology
17.15 - 18.00 Camilla Pandolfi - European Space Agency, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
Seeds, dispersal and biomimicry
18.00 - 18.15 Conclusions
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
"Back to the past for pollination biology"
Manipulations of the interactions between plants and their floral visitors remain the most successful path to an understanding of floral traits, which may have been shaped by both herbivores and pollinators. By using genetic tools in combination with old-fashioned field work the dual protective/advertisement functions of floral traits are being realized. The distinction between wanted and unwanted floral visitors is blurring, and plants with specialized pollination systems are being found capable of using alternative pollinators if the specialized pollinators fail to perform.
Back to the past for pollination biology
Danny Kessler, Ian T Baldwin,
Current Opinion in Plant Biology
Volume 14, Issue 4, August 2011, Pages 429-434
Biotic interactions
Back to the past for pollination biology
Danny Kessler, Ian T Baldwin,
Current Opinion in Plant Biology
Volume 14, Issue 4, August 2011, Pages 429-434
Biotic interactions
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Dutch PlantLab Revolutionizes Farming
Soilless coltivation, LEDs, highly controlled environmental conditions, advanced sensors...they call it agricolture 3.0! In short, they create a high tech paradise for plants...
Will the quality decrease? who knows, but the possibility to grow plants undergroung or at the top of skyscrapers is fascinating! Urban agriculture isn’t new, and people have been talking about vertical farms for decades.What makes PlantLab different is the hardcore scientific and mathematical innovation they are bringing to the table! Could we grow vegetables in space using this amazing facility?!
http://www.plantlab.nl/4.0/
Bioinspired self-repairing slippery surfaces with pressure-stable omniphobicity
A slippery surface bio-inspired by pitcher plants.... actually I was starting the same study... too late!
really a nice work!
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v477/n7365/full/nature10447.html
Nature, vol: 477, pp: 443–447
Date published: 22 September 2011 DOI: doi:10.1038/nature10447
really a nice work!
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v477/n7365/full/nature10447.html
Nature, vol: 477, pp: 443–447
Date published: 22 September 2011 DOI: doi:10.1038/nature10447
Monday, 12 September 2011
Plant nanotoxicology: how nanoparticles can affect plant's (and human) healt
Published this month on Trends in Plant Science, here is the abstract of the paper:
"The anthropogenic release of nanoparticles (NPs) to the environment poses a potential hazard to human health and life. The interplay between NPs and biological processes is receiving increasing attention. Plants expose huge interfaces to the air and soil environment. Thus, NPs are adsorbed to the plant surfaces, taken up through nano- or micrometer-scale openings of plants and are translocated within the plant body. Persistent NPs associated with plants enter the human food chain. In this Opinion, we document the occurrence and character of NPs in the environment and evaluate the need for future research on toxicological effects. Plant nanotoxicology is introduced as a discipline that explores the effects and toxicity mechanisms of NPs in plants, including transport, surface interactions and material-specific responses."
"The anthropogenic release of nanoparticles (NPs) to the environment poses a potential hazard to human health and life. The interplay between NPs and biological processes is receiving increasing attention. Plants expose huge interfaces to the air and soil environment. Thus, NPs are adsorbed to the plant surfaces, taken up through nano- or micrometer-scale openings of plants and are translocated within the plant body. Persistent NPs associated with plants enter the human food chain. In this Opinion, we document the occurrence and character of NPs in the environment and evaluate the need for future research on toxicological effects. Plant nanotoxicology is introduced as a discipline that explores the effects and toxicity mechanisms of NPs in plants, including transport, surface interactions and material-specific responses."
Plant nanotoxicology Dietz, Karl-Josef; Herth, Simone Trends in plant science doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2011.08.003
Marijuana Genome Sequenced For Health
"The company hopes the data will help scientists breed pot plants without much THC, the mind-altering chemical in the plant. The goal is instead to maximize other compounds that may have therapeutic benefits."
"Cannabis sativa has 84 other compounds that could fight pain or possibly even shrink tumors. But anti-marijuana laws make it difficult for scientists to breed and study the plant in most countries."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/08/19/139762352/cracking-the-marijuana-genome-in-search-of-therapeutic-highs?ps=sh_sthdl
"Cannabis sativa has 84 other compounds that could fight pain or possibly even shrink tumors. But anti-marijuana laws make it difficult for scientists to breed and study the plant in most countries."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/08/19/139762352/cracking-the-marijuana-genome-in-search-of-therapeutic-highs?ps=sh_sthdl
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