SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY

Scientists Tap into Tree Power

from the Boston Globe (Registration Required)

Scientists have solved a long-standing mystery behind the source of a faint electrical current in trees-and it wasn't as hard as they thought. For years, inventors and scientists have driven nails into trees, wired those nails to nearby metal spikes, and wondered at the faint but predictable electrical current that resulted.

Explanations for the power source ranged from a static energy field in the earth's crust, to the possibility it was generated through rust and corrosion, similar to the old do-it-yourself potato clock experiments.

Now, a team of MIT scientists, using platinum electrodes and everyday ficus house plants, have found that the faint current actually comes from an imbalance in pH between the soil and a living tree. And that discovery is already sparking discussions about novel ways to use that electricity-including as a power source for a tree's own fire alarm.