Engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) say cities may be able to cut back on power use and emissions with plants and trees that glow at night.
If successful, MIT hopes their research could be used to provide low-intensity indoor lighting, or transform trees into self-powered streetlights, according to the Urban Developer.
Currently researchers have embedded specialised nanoparticles, including the chemical that gives fireflies their glow, into the leaves of watercress plants. The plants were shown to give off a dim glow for nearly four hours.
This new method avoids the need to introduce a glowing gene into the plant, a far more laborious task, and with further optimisation the engineers say they could light up a desktop – or even a streetscape.
“Plants can self-repair, they have their own energy, and they are already adapted to the outdoor environment. We think this is an idea whose time has come,” MIT professor of chemical engineering Michael Strano said in the article.
“Our work very seriously opens up the doorway to streetlamps that are nothing but treated trees, and to indirect lighting around homes.”
Future versions of the research could see engineers spray or paint the nanoparticles onto leaves, ultimately transforming them for life.
Photo: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Sensors in public spaces for smart and social cities:
Who is using furniture, why and for how long? A team from UNSW aims to find out, and use collected data to develop place management strategies with project partner Georges River Council.
Street Furniture Australia is the industry partner for the research, known as the Smart Social Spaces project.
“The team will record the detailed use of two public spaces. At first, behaviour mapping will provide detailed observational information about what’s happening in both spaces. The team will then embed invisible digital sensors in and on street furniture,” writes the group of researchers on The Conversation.
“We will target picnic tables, rubbish bins, barbecues, seats, cigarette ash receptacles, bubblers, power points and lights. The sensors will measure usage, including water and power consumption. They will also provide real-time messages to the council on whether, for example, an ash receptacle is overheating, or a street bollard is damaged.
“Information like this can be used to improve the amenity and user experience of public open spaces, as well as help to manage these spaces more efficiently.”
The researchers hope the data will assist local government decision-making, by providing quantitative evidence about how different furniture configurations can improve a community’s experience of public space.
“It is hard to predict just how much will need to alter as our cities densify,” they add, and smart cities technologies and programs can help ensure that elements of the public realm are efficiently and appropriately serving residents’ needs.
The Street Furniture Australia factory, in Regents Park, Western Sydney, is both a manufacturing hub and R&D studio for our Australian-designed and made street furniture products. We run fun and informative group events for customers throughout the year, to share how products are designed, tested and built, and the latest products and projects. Director of Tract Julie Lee said: “It was a great opportunity for our team to look behind the scenes and understand the innovation, research and climate positive outcomes Street Furniture Australia is focusing on. Thank you for having us!” Place Design Group Associate, Liam Isaksen, said: “The factory tour is a fun experience to learn about the design and manufacturing process of public furniture we use in landscape architecture design. Seeing the work behind the scenes and …
Did you catch these most-read case studies, furnishing tips, new product announcements and special industry events in your StreetChat updates in 2023? Each month our StreetChat enewsletter publishes new projects, products and trends from the public domain; subscribe to receive it in your inbox. 10. Which design firm can see Longhorn Cattle from their office window? 2 countries. 9 cities. 300 landscape architects. Street Furniture Australia and USA partner Spruce & Gander visited offices in Australia and Texas. There were key similarities and some notable standouts. 9. Jazz at The Mint: Product and Book Launch Sydney landscape architects gathered at the iconic Mint Courtyard to launch a design book by our founding directors Darrel Conybeare and Bill Morrison, and expansions to the Linea collection. 8. 2023 Good Cause Giveaway goes to …
Street Furniture Australia has designed and built prototype charging stands as part of a Transport for NSW program to deliver free phone chargers at 15 Sydney train stations. Developed by Street Furniture Australia’s inhouse industrial designers in collaboration with Transport for NSW, the prototypes offer wireless, USB-A and USB-C charging, and can power 7 devices at once. They were built at the Street Furniture Australia factory in Western Sydney. Two Power Spots are now installed at Liverpool and Campbelltown stations. The $1 million Power Spots Project rollout to 15 transport hubs including Bankstown, Hurstville, Lidcombe, Penrith, Wynyard, Central, Town Hall and Bondi Junction will be completed by late 2024. NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen said the Power Spots provide peace of mind: “In the modern world, our phones are our …
ABC Radio Sydney’s Richard Glover chats with Georges River Council Mayor Kevin Greene and Dr Nancy Marshall from UNSW about the Smart Social Spaces project. The following is a transcript of the program, which aired on April 10, 2018. RG. A new policy of embedding sensors in everything from barbeques to park benches. Fans say it helps Councils know what’s needed, but how do the public feel? How often does someone sit on the bench in your local park? How often is the playground equipment used? How often does a family turn up and use the barbeque to have a picnic on a Saturday afternoon? The Georges River Council is working to find out the answer to all those questions with academics from the University of NSW, to place sensors …
Georges River Council with University of New South Wales (UNSW) has launched the Smart Social Spaces Project, an investigation into smart furniture, communities and urban management. Street Furniture Australia is the industry partner for this project. The $658,000 project will see smart furniture installed in a busy plaza, Memorial Square in Hurstville, and a green community space, Olds Park in Penhurst. Sensors on the furniture will monitor how the space is used, providing data on how it may better serve the community. The project is an opportunity, says Georges River Council Mayor Kevin Greene, to lead the exploration of smart public spaces that directly benefit the community. “Council is keen to explore the role technology can play in connecting the community to public spaces, how it can help us to …
20 Minute Cities Launch: Get up on phygital design and #techresilience with this smart cities video discussion series. Check out the latest release, episode 2 ‘The Bench,’ featuring a review of Street Furniture Australia’s prototype Aria Smart Bench with PowerMe Table. Smart Cities Council Executive Director Adam Beck, and Place Design Group Director Chris Isles have teamed up to film their travels and chats about future change for cities, towns and regions, and how our lives will be affected now, and beyond. We liked this update of the hierarchy of needs pyramid: 5 biases behind share bike dumping: We use decision-making shortcuts to abdicate our responsibility for the bikes we leave in dodgy places, writes behavioural researcher Conor Wynn, phD candidate with BehaviourWorks and the Monash Sustainable Development Institute, on the Conversation. “We see an action that leads to harm …
