Strawberry plants work as reservoir computers with just 8 leaf thickness sensors
cephaloform · x · 2026-10-06
A researcher shares an open-access Scientific Reports paper on physical reservoir computing with plants, cheekily responding to critics: "by this logic a tree is a computer" — yes, that's exactly the point.
Key takeaways:
- First application of physical reservoir computing to plants: strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) physiological dynamics serve as the reservoir.
- Using only 8 leaf thickness sensors, plants can solve environmental and eco-physiological tasks like photosynthesis-related prediction.
- Conclusion: plants aren't suited for general-purpose computation but excel at eco-physiological tasks.
Related event: Strawberry Plants as Computers Spark Debate on Physical Reservoir Computing(3 posts)→
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