Transmitting Nature: The Earth’s First Words

by Sean T. Ross

Images courtesy of artist.

Humanity began its divergence from nature when it discovered how to manipulate fire. Fire was the original technology, a leading tool in the development of our species. We began to use it to cook our food, making it easier to digest and freeing up energy which could then be employed for cognitive development. We used it to alter the landscape, clearing woodland and brush in order to make room for grazing and, eventually, farming. It was used to manipulate the materials around us. By placing stones amongst the flames, fire would remove certain impurities and make it easier to fashion them into tools. When coupled with a kiln it birthed ceramics. The introduction of a furnace and forge marked the next two time periods, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. With each progression, we slid further away from nature and ever deeper into the realm of the artificial.  

 

In today’s world this divide between nature and the artificial is wider than ever. Our technology has become so complex that only a select few people understand how any of it works. Our phones and computers are shrouded in digital mysticism, their inner workings hidden in neat black boxes. It has become a new form of commodity fetishism. We covert these artefacts but we have no connection to their origins, no idea of how they were created or the true cost of the materials they’re made from. Our ignorance of all of these things allows the system behind their production to go unchallenged. If we don’t understand the technology, how are we meant to understand the problems associated with it? The exhaustive list of minerals that are required for their creation are ripped out of mines from around the globe. Lithium from Chile, cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo and rare earth metals from Jiangxi province in China. Each requires a different method of extraction and each degenerates the environment in its own way. Even understanding isn’t a guarantee of being able to affect change. The systems behind production have become so entrenched that even the recent global pandemic, an unprecedented event, merely inconvenienced it. 

 

Within my own project, I wanted to explore a possible meld of these two opposing worlds, nature and the artificial - a symbiotic hybrid between technology and biology. I approached the challenge by viewing it as a counterfactual history, imagining that had the technology of the last few centuries been developed with a contemporary understanding of science, could we then mitigate the environmental and social impact? Can I build a biocomputer?  

 

The machine I built features two primary biological mechanisms. The first is a series of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). These cells are powered by the bacteria Geobacter sulfurreducens. Found in the anaerobic environments of river mud, Geobacter secretes waste electrons as a by-product of its respiration. My fuel cells are made from two carbon fibre electrodes, separated with a ceramic membrane. The Geobacter forms a biofilm on the outside of the cell and turns nutrients/pollutants in the water into electrical energy.  

 

The second mechanism harnesses the electrical signals in vascular plants. By placing two bio-medical pads onto the leaves of the plant and one in the soil, you can record the shifting action potential (voltages) of the plant. These action potentials are very similar to those in the human nervous system. The voltages from the plants are in the millivolts so need to be slightly boosted before being able to interact with the other components in the biocomputer. 

 

My output is a radio signal. Hidden within it is randomly generated binary code that is recorded by the receiver. The resulting manuscript can then be examined to reveal the 8-digit codes associated with the letters of the alphabet. As more letters appear, they begin to form words, the Earth’s first words. This output reflects it being built during a lockdown. In a time when we are isolated from each other and the world, this contemporary communion with nature has more relevance than ever. 

 

Looking to the future, however, will require more advanced biocomputers in order to make viable alternatives to classical computers. The answer to this lies in synthetic biology. Researchers at MIT have developed a tool that makes it possible to design DNA circuits for living cells. This tool, called Cello, is based on existing programming language, Verilog, which is used for designing electronic circuits. This breakthrough has vastly improved the efficiency, and lowered the cost, of bespoke DNA sequences. This is not only a promising sign for the biocomputer of the future but also indicates a reconciliation between nature and the artificial, a future where the two may be one and the same. 

Here is a link to learn more about this project.

Sean T. Ross is a London-based artist and student in the MA Material Futures program.