- Title: ISRAEL: Israeli scientists "listen" to plants in effort to find water pollution
- Date: 17th August 2008
- Summary: RAMAT GAN, ISRAEL (AUGUST 13, 2008) (REUTERS) PROFESSOR DUBINSKY IN HIS OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) PROFESSOR ZVY DUBINSKY, AN AQUATIC BIOLOGIST AT ISRAEL'S BAR ILAN UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "I hope we shall see many, a few hundreds of such instruments helping to preserve the purity of our waters which is so important in our times, and also to be able to follow the global cli
- Embargoed: 1st September 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Israel
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Environment / Natural World,Science / Technology
- Reuters ID: LVA717GXTSZL02PN191JJXATO9SC
- Story Text: Israeli scientists develop a way to detect water pollution by "listening" to plants.
Scientists in Israel have discovered a new way to test for water pollution by "listening" to what the plants growing in water have to say.
By shining a laser beam on the tiny pieces of algae floating in water, the researchers said they hear sound waves that tell them the type, and amount of contamination in the water.
Professor Zvy Dubinsky, an aquatic biologist at Israel's Bar Ilan University who developed the technique along with Doctor Yulia Pinchasov, says the secret is to measure the rate of photosynthesis in the algae, meaning the plant's ability to transform light into energy. During photosynthesis, plants also release oxygen into the air.
"Using that microphone to detect heat, the wasted heat that the algae are unable to use in photosynthesis, if we listen to this carefully, we can know the status of the water in which these algae live, and to take action to direct it in the way we want, either to increase the number of algaes or to control their proliferation," he explained.
A prototytpe tester, that occupies about one square metre of a laboratory desktop, shoots a laser beam at water samples to stimulate photosynthesis in the algae. But not all of the laser's heat is used.
Depending on the condition of the algae and the rate of photosynthesis, some of the heat is shot back into the water, creating sound waves, Dubinsky said.
With a special underwater microphone, researchers are able to analyse the strength of the sound waves and determine the health of the algae and the condition of the surrounding water.
Dubinsky's technique is easy to perform because of the over-abundance of algae in the planet's water. Most of the oxygen in the atmosphere comes from algae.
"The machine can have few applications. First of all, to follow changes in water quality. It can be reservoirs for drinking water. It can be treatment lagoons for waste water, or the open seas, the high seas, lakes and rivers from which we draw water from which we catch fish," Dubinsky said.
He said that testing algae photosynthesis can determine water quality more accurately and easily than labour-intensive methods now used like chemical and radioactive carbon testing.
Although most of the earth is covered in water, 44 percent of the world's population live in areas with high water stress, and the number is likely to increase because of factors such as global warming and rising population.
As water sources deteriorate worldwide, the testing of algae could be used to monitor water quality faster, more cheaply and more accurately than techniques now in use, Dubinsky said.
With proper funding, Dubinsky said a commercial product could be ready in about two years.
"I hope we shall see many, a few hundreds of such instruments helping to preserve the purity of our waters which is so important in our times, and also to be able to follow the global climate change driven processes in the world's oceans, rivers and lakes."
The research team has published its research in numerous scientific journals, most recently in the journal Hydrobiologia.
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