Plants have been holdin’ out on us for years and years.
Yes. It’s a fact.
Plants have two ways to make convert light. Previously, they had let
us in on only one type of photosynthesis.
What buggers! (Who knows. Maybe they have more secrets, too!)
Here’s the story:
“The discovery changes our understanding of the basic
mechanism of photosynthesis and should rewrite the textbooks.”
“It will also tailor the way we hunt for alien life and
provide insights into how we could engineer more efficient crops that take
advantage of longer wavelengths of light.”
“The discovery, published today in Science, was led by
Imperial College London, supported by the BBSRC, and involved groups from the
ANU in Canberra, the CNRS in Paris and Saclay and the CNR in Milan.”
“The vast majority of life on Earth uses visible red light
in the process of photosynthesis, but the new type uses near-infrared light
instead. It was detected in a wide range of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae)
when they grow in near-infrared light, found in shaded conditions like
bacterial mats in Yellowstone and in beach rock in Australia.”
“As scientists have now discovered, it also occurs in a
cupboard fitted with infrared LEDs in Imperial College London.”
Mary Lambert - Secrets (Official) - 2014
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