By Charley Cameron, Source: Inhabitat

Moss FM is the world’s first plant-powered radio! The neatly arranged pots of moss form a Photo Microbial Fuel Cell that captures electrons generated during photosynthesis and converts them into electricity, even when there is no light. The project was developed by Swiss designer Fabienne Felder in collaboration with Cambridge University scientists Dr. Paolo Bombelli and Ross Dennis. While the technology is still in its infancy, the team hopes that it will become commercially viable in as little as five to ten years.

As Dezeen explains, the Photo-MFCs used in Moss FM are formed from a composite of water-retaining materials, conductive materials and biological matter, on top of which the moss grows. The ten pots that power the radio are linked to anodes that collect the electrons generated by photosynthesis and cathodes where the electrons are consumed. An external circuit connects the entire system.

Fabienne Felder constructed the radio entirely from discarded materials, and set it up “like a biochemistry experiment,” allowing for further study of the Photo-MFCs. The piece is notable not only because it is the first “plant-powered radio,” but because it is the first time that the emerging biophilic technology has been used to power anything that requires more electricity than an LCD display.

Read more at: Inhabitat