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AI gardener will be unveiled at Chelsea Flower Show
Artificial intelligence continues to augment human capabilities for an ever-expanding range of purposes, and among the latest examples is horticulture. At the 2025 Chelsea Flower Show, garden designer Tom Massey and architect Je Ahn are set to present their Avanade “Intelligent” Garden. Their innovation tracks plant welfare by using sensors and AI to measure “things that a human gardener wouldn’t be able to see in real-time,” Massey explains, according to the Financial Times.
Soil moisture, sap movement, and canopy filtration of light are among the many variables that AI can now track. The AI then processes the data to communicate it in human language, providing Massey with much more holistic and accurate knowledge of his garden than was ever available to gardeners of the past. Massey describes interacting with the system as such: “You’ll be able to have a conversation with the tree and say, ‘What do you need?’ or ‘How are you feeling?’ And the tree will respond.”
Once technology like this becomes widely adopted, horticultural industrialists and hobbyists alike will be able to significantly improve water and other resource efficiency while increasing plant health and abundance.
Cambodia is nearly free of landmines
The Cambodian government has demined nearly 3,300 square kilometers of land since 1992, leaving just 348 square kilometers uncleared.
These efforts have sharply reduced Cambodian landmine casualties, which dropped from 4,320 in 1996 to 49 in 2024.
A new kind of artificial heart reaches milestone
BiVACOR, an innovative titanium heart, made headlines last week after sustaining an Australian man for 100 days while he waited for a donor transplant.
The 100-day milestone is not particularly notable on its own—people with artificial hearts have been living that long since the 1980s. However, BiVACOR is special. Unlike other artificial hearts, which tend to be complex and finicky machines, BiVACOR has only one moving part. That part is also special: instead of a traditional pump with valves and diaphragms, BiVACOR uses a magnetically levitated rotor that pumps blood without generating mechanical friction.
Cardiologists hope this elegant and frictionless design will make the heart more durable, possibly even allowing it to function as a permanent replacement.
Economics & Development:
Energy & Environment:
- A New Species Discovered in Big Bend National Park
- Cambodian Elephant Population More Robust than Thought
- France Runs Fusion Reactor for Record 22 Minutes
- Piezoelectric Catalyst Destroys “Forever Chemicals”
Health & Demographics:
- Stem Cell Therapy Trial Reverses “Irreversible” Damage to Cornea
- Knee Injury Repairs Improved with Cartilage Grown from Nasal Cells
- New Pregnancy Blood Test Sensor Detects Birth Risks Earlier
- FDA Approves Studies of Pig Organ Transplants
- Ozempic Rival in Weight Loss Sidesteps Side Effects
Science & Technology:
- Softbank-Backed Self-Driving Firm Wayve Nears Commercial Debut
- Automated Port Will Handle 65 Million Containers per Year
- Could AI Make You a Better Gardener?
- NASA Launches Newest Space Telescope
- Medicines Made in Space Set to Land in Australian Outback
- Here’s How AI Is Helping Make Your Wine