1:26pm UK, Wednesday March 18, 2009 A new sensor has been developed to text you when your plants need watering.
Plants text to tell you when thirsty
Israeli scientists have come up with the device that sends text messages to farmers or homeowners when plants need a drink.
It has been developed to help cut water usage and avoid damaging plants or crops.
Dr. Eran Raveh and Dr Arie Nadler have spent seven years perfecting the sensor.
It gauges water levels in the plants and sends real time text alerts to mobile phones or computers when levels get too low.
"The idea behind creating the sensor was to cut irrigation by up to 50%," Raveh told Fox News.
According to Raveh, farmers in Israel are the country biggest water consumers.
The sensor works on a similar principle to a 'walkie-talkie', collecting water-level data via a series of metallic nails inserted into plant stems.
It works out at $250 for a 5,000 tree orchard. "What's great about our sensor is that it's highly accurate without being prohibitively expensive, " says Raveh.
The scientists are now hoping to take their invention abroad. They say they have already had interest from a firm in California.
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I have a twitter now!! Actually, I've had one, and forgot all about it, then accidently began to collect a following. So now I feel obligated to update it several times a day.
I still can't really figure out how to work it 100%, and I have no idea why it actually exists.
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