Putting down roots

PEOPLE often forget, when looking at a garden, meadow or forest, that half of almost every plant in it is underground. Stems, leaves and flowers are pretty. But plants’ roots, though ugly and invisible, are probably their smartest parts. They collect information on the physical properties and chemical composition of the soil they are growing through and use that to decide in which direction to continue growing. They can pierce the ground employing only a fraction of the energy that worms, moles or man-made drills consume. Plant roots are thus the most efficient systems known for underground exploration.

But not, perhaps, for much longer. Researchers working on the Plantoid project, led by Barbara Mazzolai of the Italian Institute of Technology, in Pontedera, hope to develop robot plant roots that will be as good as the real things, if not better. In doing so, they seek to understand how real roots work and also to devise machines that might monitor soil pollution, prospect for minerals and look for water.