Device Lets Plants Tweet Owners

Imagine your plants using the social blogging Web site Twitter to tell you when they need water, or when they've had enough. It might sound impossible, but researchers at New York University got their hands dirty to make this happen.

The NYU researchers have developed a device called Botanicalls. Botanicalls is embedded into the plant's soil and uses sensors to determine moisture levels. These sensors are connected to a circuit board, and that's how the messages are sent from the real world to the virtual world.

"There's always a basic 'I'm thirsty, could you please water me' message," said co-creator Kate Hartman. "But they also accelerate in terms of need, so there's an urgent message: 'I'm desperately thirsty, please water me.'"