Spinach bomb detectors could be the latest tool in the war against terror after scientists at MIT modified the plants to be able to detect explosives nearby and then relay the information to smartphones or similar devices. A group of engineers, led by Michael Strano at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, published their findings in the journal Nature Materials on Monday. They embedded nanobionics in the spinach plants. These tiny, near-infrared fluorescent nanosensors, called nanotubes, can detect chemicals called nitroaromatics, which are found in explosives. Shining a laser on the nanotubes reveals a fluorescent signal if explosives are detected. If a landmine is buried nearby, the plant