One giant LEAF for mankind?
Artist creates living man-made foliage that could help humans colonize space.A graduate for the Royal College of Art, London, created the leaves .They are made from chloroplasts found in plant cells, that are suspended in a web of silk protein and can produce oxygen.Julian Melchiorri claims he has made he 'first photosynthetic material that is living and breathing as a leaf does.Leaves could be used to provide oxygen on other planets and spacecraft to enable long-distance space exploration.They could also be used to clad buildings on Earth and in interior design"
Benefits:
- Julian Melchiorri claims that the leaves could facilitate long-distance space travel by providing oxygen on future space craft.
- They could be dumped on planets that humans will colonise, as 'real' plants can't grow in zero gravity. But the man-made leaves also need water to perform photosynthesis.
- The leaves could be used in interior design on Earth and the designer has already made light shade using the material, which could oxygenate as well as decorate rooms.
- He thinks the leaves could be used to clad buildings and even funnel the oxygen produced inside structures.
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