Small Robot That Can Reforest The Whole Planet

Amidst mounting ecological challenges, a remarkable innovation known as the "Erodium Copy" robot has emerged as a beacon of hope for our planet's beleaguered ecosystems. Developed by the ingenious minds at Morphing Matter Lab, this invention has the potential to reforest the Earth, safeguard endangered species, and replenish our vital natural resources. Drawing inspiration from nature's own mechanisms, it operates with astonishing simplicity: placed on the ground and coupled with a seed, it buries itself deep underground, offering a nature-inspired solution to one of humanity's most pressing challenges.
What sets this robot apart is its keen emulation of natural processes. It maintains orientation with three anchor points and utilizes a calibrated number of coils to thrust seeds into the soil, providing protection from natural threats like fires and rain. Remarkably, the primary material used in its construction is Oakwood, renowned for its strength and eco-friendliness. By avoiding additional synthetic materials, it minimizes environmental harm, making it a truly sustainable solution for reforestation.
Extensive testing, including drone-aided seed airdrops with a remarkable 90% success rate, underscores its effectiveness. Furthermore, it can host symbiotic species like fungi and nematodes, enhancing plant survival rates in diverse environments. Inspired by the Erodium plant's seed propulsion mechanism, this innovation represents a critical step towards global reforestation, breathing new life into our fragile ecosystems and rekindling hope for a greener, more sustainable future.
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[@bc-guy852]

That might be the most encouraging four-minute video I've seen - ever.

[@TravellingAllen]

seriously... we need more uplifting news like this nowadays. Wish the video included a link to help donate to this effort.

[@cenzo362]

​@@TravellingAllenYes We Do! Just check out the itinerary & where it's (UR $) landing.

[@ceciLOVEtaco]

That's great. The world can recover itself as long as humans don't destroy everything before it recovers.

[@jmirodg7094]

Excellent concept, simple efficient, without need for non biodegradable material, very smart

[@SaraMorgan-ym6ue]

yeah except human foresters will just cut those trees down deforesting the forest like we do now so it's pointless

[@NivedanRathi]

What a time to be alive! ❤

[@heavysoftness8530]

Very interesting and informative. Science for nature and Mother Earth.

[@hadihavid8096]

How i can get this, here we are in sumbawa island need this type, most of the forest has been destroy, we need this asap

[@rollingmancave4547]

Kickass!👍

[@Fishstycz]

Beautiful

[@vishwajitiyer4716]

Absolutely fascinating.

[@simonmcowan6874]

That is amazing,

[@the_unfiltered_truth7181]

Wonderful

[@Sophia-bq2sp]

It won't be long until the robots plant their own seeds😮

[@securebrowser1479]

its wood

[@eliudgerardo1152]

Amazing

[@cleitonoliveira932]

Or you can just throw more seeds without caring about the numbers. I'm sure you could increase tenfold the seeds while making it cheaper

[@nateroo1486]

well in that case you run the risk of a high volume of loss and not every tree seed is good just landing on top of soil, especially in potentially windy areas which deforested areas tend to be pretty windy due to a lack of trees breaking up the gusts. Plus it's not too much more expensive when you can reliably plant seeds and have a high return making for less trips for planting, not to mention the manufacturing of the drill design isn't too costly. It's literally just oak stripped in a certain way and coiled up. It's more costly than dropping the seeds straight but only marginally.

[@gksa007]

This is really a real invention. unbelievable

[@BartholomewJenkins69420]

It's wood

[@TB-ni4ur]

There is a variety of weed where I live that looks the same and does the same thing, only it has one coil not 2 or 3. I suspect this was copied directly from a similar plant. This strategy speeds up germination by a couple weeks which is a big deal in the life cycle of a weed, but irrelevant for a tree.

[@sphaera3809]

❤

[@karakenio]

bravo

[@brentburns7803]

That is awesome, but I could see someone using this negatively as well.

[@Larsbor]

So how much does it cost ?

[@jnorfleet3292]

As Bill Gates is cutting trees down, this must be a Microsoft product 🤣

[@konara261]

Wooow

[@Gazzapa57]

How about a little solar powered all terrain robot on wheels - that drills a hole in the soil and drops a seed in and notes the gps co-ordinates of where it dropped it and when.

[@reiniertl]

All terrain robots of that kind do not exist yet. And drones are much better in terms of energy efficiency, capacity to access many places and the list goes on.

[@brendamiller3315]

The idea is that the cage protects the seed from being removed. Just dropping seeds is not an improvement.

[@TB-ni4ur]

Our you could just drop a seed in spring... This might speed up the germination process by a couple weeks. I guess if you're marketing to people with the attention span of 2 minutes that would seem like a revolutionary technique though.

[@servingpublic]

Great idea! thanks for sharing .. But what if the soil is hard and not loosened before dropping those erodium plants ? Meaning can this be used in a desert (without loose soil)?

[@brendamiller3315]

Why would you be planting thousands of trees in a desert? This is reforesting areas.

[@etemijoshuagarba2543]

Where can I buy it?

[@wookie0dud]

Tylko gdzie oni chcą to wykorzystać ? Bo takie coś spadnie na trawę, zawiśnie i nic z tego nie będzie :P

[@emilihnat9572]

Where can we buy this?

[@BartholomewJenkins69420]

If you notice in the video they are constantly wetting the surrounding area over and over again for it to move and the footage is sped up alot. So this will only work in a place where there's a lot of rain

[@MauriceChilds]

I imagine anywhere that the moisture content in the air changes would do. So just the difference between a dewy morning and dry at midday is enough.

[@secondarycontainment4727]

@@MauriceChilds Yeah, even in sand deserts - animals and plants have evolved to collect dew from every morning.

[@TB-ni4ur]

It'll work in places where you could easily drop a seed on the forest bed and it would grow anyways. They're implying you could "reforest" a desert with this. You cannot.

[@Larsbor]

Is oak one of the most accessible types of wood ?

[@BartholomewJenkins69420]

I didn't think so

[@brendamiller3315]

Depends on the oak and it depends on where you are harvesting.

[@cenzo362]

What are the nanos within? Plants have suvived how many thousands of years, before human?

[@manamichan4972]

Music credits?

[@yoyoyoyoyoyyofsdfsdf]

Trees have been planting themselves for millions of years.....

[@zicho1st]

​@@meetontheledge1380as well as meorite impacts, supervolcano erupsions etc. Yet trees replenish itself by themselves. The point is ... U need not only seed, but water and sun also. And temperature, and no sheeps.

[@yong9613]

How much is the cost to produce each of these??

[@zicho1st]

And how many trees do they cut? :-)

[@miguelgr11]

Robo from Chronotrigger

[@FBAagent]

god damn why are we watching BET while things like this is happening

[@monicaparker4922]

Robot is definitely not the correct name. The wooden coil is not a machine.

[@douwejan]

What we think of as robots is in correct and damaging to the earth

[@viveviveka2651]

That and some extra CO2.

[@zackshaffer5018]

Who is the narrator?

[@chipchilinkachip910]

Interesting. But is it cheaper than planting by hand? I guess that may be useful for hazardous and dangerous environments.

[@BFArch0n]

How could it not be? Automate the builds. Drone drop 24/7 automatically.

[@TB-ni4ur]

Why not just drop a seed, does the same exact thing? This is only impressive to people who have never seen a seed germinate... Sad actually what urban living has done to people.@@BFArch0n

[@reiniertl]

@@TB-ni4ur You have no idea how ineffective nature is at planting seeds, at least for most species, in particular trees. The success rate of most plants is less than 2%, if this achieves 70% success rate then is a big winner, particularly because it can be transported by drones and dropped very effectively and with great accuracy , something that nature is really bad at too. What nature almost always had on its side was time, but we have screwed it so hard that it will take millennia to rewild itself and that without us to keep screwing things. So thing like these are needed in the anthropogenic age.

[@TB-ni4ur]

hahahaha Buddy, seeds are cheap... This is real life Partner, I know it's "cool" to get all caught up with the latest and greatest gizmos and gadgets, but if you've ever seen a forest regrowing after a wildfire, you'd know firsthand how silly this topic is... I've lived in forests all my life.@@reiniertl

[@zicho1st]

​@@reiniertlmaybe not, actuelly where nature has good conditions, it takes back very quickly without human interception.

[@ArjayMartin]

quicker and easier just replanting by hand...

[@dellahendrickson3353]

I like this robot but not the ones that will take our jobs and wages.

[@phil20_20]

And then they will turn on their masters... 😂

[@Sophia-bq2sp]

Yes and plant their own seeds😂

[@elan1418]

Soooo... we need to cut down trees to be able to plant them?

[@computersciencebasis6051]

First stop cutting trees. It looks like we creat problem then we find solution for that problem in the name of innovation.

[@pse2020]

If its too cheap they will not get investors... if its expensive it will not save anything

[@rickjames18]

Great, now can we plant trillions in the US starting tomm please? I have to say I like the republican idea to plant trillions of trees within a couple decades in the US.

[@atenxra4457]

nope 👎

[@nathanjardine4414]

Wow drink more of the koi laid