photosynthesis
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Hell is real, and cyanobacteria were condemned to burn, but they might save us still.
Cyanobacteria turned our planet into a place of fire and ice, causing the first mass extinction. Then they too nearly went extinct. Their descendants were imprisoned in the cells of plants. We burn their old prison cells when we drive down the street. And yet, their lineage might save us still.
biology, buffering, carbon sinks, climate, climate change, cyanobacteria, early Earth, early life, early life on earth, energy, evolution, global warming, greenhouse gas, mass extinction, nonlinear response curves, oxygen, oxygen catastrophe, oxygen poisoning, oxygen sinks, photosynthesis, science, sustainability, the evolution of life, the first mass extinction, the invention of fire
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On violence and gratitude.
Although I consider myself a benevolent tyrant, some of my cells have turned against me. Mutinous, they were swayed by the propaganda of a virus and started churning out capsids rather than helping me type this essay. Which leaves me sitting at a YMCA snack room table snerking, goo leaking down my throat and out…
animal cruelty, animal life, animal welfare, apoptosis, appreciation, autotroph, biology, biology from a cell’s perspective, cancer, cancer biology, cell biology, cell death, cellular biology, cold, competition, consciousness, cooperation, cost, defection, DNA, do plants have feelings, doom, eat more plants, ethics, farming, gamete, genetics, germ cell, herbivore, heterotroph, immunology, inevitable death, irrationality, metastasis, microbiology, molecular biology, multicellular organisms, other perspectives, photosynthesis, plant-based diet, plant-based lifestyle, programmed cell death, psych experiment, psychology, Richard Dawkins, sacrifice, self sacrifice, selfish gene, sick, somatic cell, Suzana Huculano-Houzel, terrorism, The Human Advantage, the inevitability of death, tyrant, value, vegan, veganism, vegetarian, violence, viral infection, virology, virus, we value what we pay for, wine, wine tasting
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On evolution (and why there aren’t more black plants).
As I was reading Freeman Dyson‘s recent collection Dreams of Earth and Sky, specifically his essay on democratizing genetic manipulation, I came across the following passage: “For a plant growing in a hot climate, it is advantageous to reflect as much as possible of the sunlight that is not used for growth. There is plenty…
Frank Brown Cloud 