Chinese scientists were the first in the world to extract rare earth metals from plants

It turned out that ferns like "vacuum cleaners" absorb elements from the environment, as a result of which minerals crystallize in their tissues. For example, they managed to extract monazite from them, which usually contains radioactive elements, but was "clean and safe" in the plant.

In theory, ferns can be planted in tailings dumps and spent deposits, where they will extract the remains of valuable heavy metals, while simultaneously cleaning the contaminated soil.