Blogging plant grows big in Japan
Gardeners have long believed talking to plants can help them grow - but don't usually expect them to talk back.
A pot plant in a Japanese cafe has been writing her own blog on a computer to keep customers posted on its thoughts.
Engineer Satoshi Kuribayashi, who has been studying how to communicate with plants, helped Midori-san express herself.
He wired up the hoya kerrii, commonly known as a "sweetheart plant", to a sensor that measures bio-electric signals and translates them into Japanese using a computer algorithm.
A typical blog entry reads: "Today was a sunny day and I was able to sunbathe a lot. I had quite a bit of fun today."
Customers at the Bowls Cafe in Kamakura, near Tokyo, are taking a keen interest in their green friend's musings.
© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.
Post to Fark
Post to del.icio.us
Digg this story
Post to reddit
Post to Facebook
Post to StumbleUpon
Seed Newsvine
Post to GNN
Post to MySpace
ITN Source