Taking a break from making tomorrow's lunches... I recall that there are 2 bio-chemical "paths" (lacking the proper term at the moment) that photo-synthesis can take here on earth. Was wondering if there are any botanists on the list who would speculate on the possibility of a form of photosynthesis that could work under the spectrum of a non-G type star? Or if the process could theoretically work effectively under a much brighter or dimmer source? Humans produce vitamin D, a substance required for good health, by skin exposure to sunlight. Can this process be considered photosynthesis in a similar sense as green plants using chlorophyl? That is, making a needed nutrient internally using sunlight as an energy source. Where I'm going is trying to speculate on possible extra-terrestrial variations on basic earthly botanic & biological processes dependent on sunlight. Parallel evolution, processes repeating themselves in isolated, independent ecosystems, etc. Aliens using familiar processes with variations...any thoughts? __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Silly me, I should have known that exobiology isn't anywhere as interesting to amateur astronomers as bowling balls, urine-powered batteries, and Thomas Aquinas. I've said it before- I'm out of touch with the hobby. ____________________________________________________ Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs
Since I'm no biologist, I don't fully understand the process, but I'm fascinated by the whole (relatively recently discovered) food chain that exists in and near deep-sea thermal vents that don't rely on photosynthetic processes at all. These organisms are able to utilize the geothermal energy in what I assume is a similar process of synthesizing food. Anyone (Jim S.?) care to expound on that whole thing? It's exciting to think that we might have all kinds of critters living in places (is it Ganymede?) where there may be liquid water (near such a vent) that's otherwise cold and far from the sun (or a sun). --- Chuck Hards <chuckhards@yahoo.com> wrote:
Taking a break from making tomorrow's lunches...
I recall that there are 2 bio-chemical "paths" (lacking the proper term at the moment) that photo-synthesis can take here on earth. Was wondering if there are any botanists on the list who would speculate on the possibility of a form of photosynthesis that could work under the spectrum of a non-G type star? Or if the process could theoretically work effectively under a much brighter or dimmer source? Humans produce vitamin D, a substance required for good health, by skin exposure to sunlight. Can this process be considered photosynthesis in a similar sense as green plants using chlorophyl? That is, making a needed nutrient internally using sunlight as an energy source. Where I'm going is trying to speculate on possible extra-terrestrial variations on basic earthly botanic & biological processes dependent on sunlight. Parallel evolution, processes repeating themselves in isolated, independent ecosystems, etc. Aliens using familiar processes with variations...any thoughts?
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participants (2)
-
Chuck Hards -
Richard Tenney