Posted on 05/12/2014 6:06:42 PM PDT by mandaladon
Scientists in the Philippines have discovered a plant that can absorb large amounts of metal without itself being poisoned, a species called the Rinorea niccolifera, that can be used to clean up polluted soils and harvest commercially viable metals.
The plant is one of only 450 species, known as hyperaccumulator plants, of 300,000 known vascular plants that can absorb significant amounts of metal though their roots.
The lead researcher and author of a new study on the plant, Professor Edwino Fernando, from the University of the Philippines, said the leaves of the Rinorea niccolifera can absorb up to 18,000 parts per million of nickel, 1,000 times more than can be safely absorbed by any other known plant.
Fernando along with Dr. Marilyn Quimado and their team laid out the details of their discovery in the open access journal PhytoKeys.
“The new species was discovered on the western part of Luzon Island in the Philippines, an area known for soils rich in heavy metals,” the researchers said in a press release announcing their discovery.
As well as being an exciting new scientific discovery, the plant also has important environmental credentials. Rinorea niccolifera can remove large amounts of dangerous metallic metals from polluted ecosystems, and subsequently it is likely to find supporters in the mining industry. Not only can the plants absorb large amounts of nickel, they can also then be harvested for the metal they have absorbed.
"Hyperaccumulator plants have great potentials for the development of green technologies, for example, 'phytoremediation' and 'phytomining',” Augustine Doronila, of the University of Melbourne, who co-authored the study, said.
(Excerpt) Read more at rt.com ...
If it also does well with radiation, Japan could probably use it.
Wish they could make it grow 1911’s
Ping!
World’s First 3D Printed Metal Gun (printed 1911 .45acp)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3089227/posts
Wow I like A buddy of mine way back in the 80’s worked at Bren of Bren 10 fame Miami vice gun We would go to the police range to test fire weapons and such it was fun kinda a crappy gun all in all unless the guy that did the fitting and assembly was right on I did a couple of them very intense work
Certain fungus can concentrate radioactive elements by 10,000x. There is fungus growing in the destroyed reactor in Chernobyl.
Phyt On!!!
What is the down side? There always is. Kudzu, for instance.
My thoughts exactly! When we as humans start playing “g*d”..it ain’t pretty!
BUT the environazis will never admit nature has a way of dealing with what we mere humans do to it. For example... Where did all that oil go from the blowout a couple years ago??? Don’t hear a peep about that. What about the radiation at Fukushima being near natural back ground levels. How about Nagasaki and Hiroshima being vibrant crowded cities???
It appears nature can take anything we throw at it except of course breathing CO2 which will certainly destroy all life on the planet.
TRIFFIDS!
OK, so it absorbs nickel. Now what? Do nickels grow on it? :-)
phyt on, fight on groan!
FEED me Seymore!!!
I think that I’ve read somewhere that certain plants and weeds have served as markers for potential deposits of valuable minerals in the West for many years by those who know how to “read” them.
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