Posted February 2, 2009

In our work inventing and developing toys, we are always hoping to discover something, or to accomplish something previously thought impossible.  Our process is often much like that of a scientific laboratory investigating new phenomenon.  At times it really is rocket science, especially the work we did on our Hydrogen Rocket System, and are currently doing on non-lethal projectile launchers for the Department of Defense.  More on that later.

Since High School I have been fascinated with the world of plants and animals, and the process of experimentation and discovery.  Like my 11th grade science fair project, using a movie camera, a telegraph key to depress the record button at one minute intervals, and the second hand of an alarm clock for the timer, I was able to do stop motion photos and movies of plants bending toward a light and in response to gravity.

With the help of a fellow student, Armand Ensanian and his Galvanograph, a scientific instrument which measured minute electrical impulses and made traces on a moving graph paper scroll, we were able to detect electrical signals in a plant in response to damage of its leaves by cutting or burning.  Beyond that, and beyond belief, we found that the plant exhibited similar electrical signals in response to bringing scissors or a flame close to its leaves, but not actually touching the plant or doing any damage. It was a Twilight Zone moment.  We may have been doing early research into what years later was published in a book, “The Secret Life of Plants.”

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