Some people merge the organic and electronic by working with wood. Mike Schropp of Total Geekdom has created an entirely new way to mix plant and machine with a custom PC case that grows grass. I think he should call it the grow box. Catchy, huh?
Long seeking a project that would merge technology with nature and in possession of a cool basement with only a little sunlight, Schropp decided to harness the heat of the mighty Pentium 4 processor to assist in the growing of healthy wheatgrass. I never said it was a powerful PC.
I can’t exactly recall when the idea came to me, but at some point I started wanting to use the heat from a computer as a way to warm the soil and help with germination/growth. I’m about as far from a botanist as it comes, I did some reading online and became pretty interested in the effects of soil temperature on germination/growth. I read different studies and papers from various universities. It was not too long into that process that I became hooked on the idea of using computer heat as a way to control the soil temperature of some sort of living plant life.
Well his experiment paid off. Now his developing geek offspring has a learning computer that teaches farming as well as computing.
I’m just glad he didn’t create anything people might try to replicate in order to perpetrate illegal activities. I doubt it would work with more expensive plants anyway. Now with a grow light mod…
Bio Computer [Total Geekdom via Boing Boing]
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