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When the Earth Was Purple

Posted by kdawson on from the how-violet-was-my-valley dept.

Ollabelle writes "It's always been a bit of a mystery why plants absorb red and blue light, reflecting green, when the sun emits the peak energy of the visible spectrum in the green. A new theory offers one possible answer: that the first chlorophyll-utilizing microbes evolved to exploit the red-and-blue light that older green-absorbing microbes didn't use, eventually out-competing them through greater efficiency and the rise of oxygen."

15 of 278 comments (clear)

  1. Green is the new Purple by emj · · Score: 4, Funny

    Green is the new purple, completly off topic but a scary resemblance.

  2. Old news by Timesprout · · Score: 1, Funny

    After watching Barney the Dinasoaur I think we were all able to infer that the earth was purple at some point in history.

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    1. Re:Old news by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Funny

      And all that was purple eventually died out...

      Reaffirms my faith that there's still hope for childrens' TV.

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  3. Re:How about by heinousjay · · Score: 2, Funny

    Your chemistry skills are astonishing. I bet you get all the girls.

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  4. A-ha! Proof! by therufus · · Score: 2, Funny

    This is proof that the artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as Prince has been here on earth since the dawn of time!

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  5. Red sun by flyingfsck · · Score: 2, Funny

    Plants originated on a planet where the sun was a different colour (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6589157 .stm) and the hairdressers and telephone cleaners who colonized earth brought them here...

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  6. Re:Plants on other planets by Dogtanian · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sci-fi is a bit broader than just Star Trek Of course; it's stupid to base your ideas on one TV show. I'm basing my search for extraterrestrial life on old-school Doctor Who; one of our tests detects the presence of Bubble wrap which we believe is likely to make up the skin of a large number of scary alien monsters.
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  7. Re:Plants on other planets by emj · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think that the only thing to look for is patterns which we don't believe could occur in nature
    Like life?
  8. Wonderful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    I see trees of purple , blue roses too
    I see em bloom , for me and for you
    And I think to myself , what a wonderful world

  9. Re:Still fighting old battles by richie2000 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Here be dragons.

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  10. Drazi Plants by aapold · · Score: 4, Funny

    All the plants were split into two camps, Green! and Purple! They fought until there was only one kind left.

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  11. Re:Still fighting old battles by Dan+Hayes · · Score: 2, Funny

    The Scriptural proof of extraterrestrial life :)

  12. Re:Plants on other planets by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Upside down? What, the Earth's gravity is all contained in the crust now? The bulk of the planet doesn't pull you toward it once you get to liquid hot magma?

  13. Re:If the atmosphere was one super-thick water clo by Oktober+Sunset · · Score: 2, Funny

    keep your crack pipe topped up and it will continue to make perfect sense.

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  14. Re:Plants on other planets by PFI_Optix · · Score: 2, Funny

    Star Trek also featured a planet which evolved a Roman Empire that never fell, and Spock found it logical.

    Then Spock said it was most improbable that the Nazi party would arise on another planet the same way it had on Earth.

    But when they found a world on which the cold war had gone hot and the US flag and constitution were trotted out at the end of the show, they didn't bat an eye.

    Half of Star Trek should have been Sliders episodes.

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