Plant watering turns a new leaf
Are you over-watering or under-watering your plants or crops? A research associate at the University of Colorado has developed a new technology to predict the onset of leaf dehydration, without damaging the leaf.
A sensor system and method for evaluating “water deficit stress in plants” is the result of Hans Seelig’s doctoral dissertation. CU’s Technology Transfer Office recently lauded the technology.
Seelig said there are other sensors that can detect water levels in crops, but readings are taken too far away from the crops, so other environmental factors skew the results.
“I went close to the leaf,” he said. “The sensor is clipped onto the leaf. We can detect water deficit before it becomes visually apparent.”
Seelig is still working on how to apply his sensor technology to real-life agriculture, because it isn’t practical to attach a sensor to every leaf in a crop.
One approach might be to have center-pivot irrigation systems take wireless readings from select plants in a field and then adjust water levels accordingly.
– Kimberly S. Johnson, Denver Post Staff Writer
Get a bigger picture while you wait
A bit of entertainment can enliven long computer sessions, especially when the computer is grinding away at downloading or some other task. So quite a few computer monitors now include TV tuners that can switch between a full-screen TV picture and a small picture-in-picture (PiP) window at one corner of the screen.
The Samsung SyncMaster 940MW takes the idea a bit further, with a PiP window that can be set to occupy as much of the screen as you like and a built-in FM tuner for times when the whole screen is needed for the computer. The 19-inch screen has a 16:10 aspect ratio for wide-screen movies.
As a monitor, the 940MW ($699) has a native resolution of 1,400 by 900 pixels and a 160-degree vertical and horizontal viewing angle.
As a television, it is HDTV-ready and works with local analog TV signals anywhere in the world. Its speakers are below the screen.
– Ivan Berger, The New York Times
