Did you recently hear news that Earth’s oldest pigments were hot pink? That’s not quite right. When they were in living bacteria a billion years ago, they were performing photosynthesis – and green.
Understanding how certain proteins deal with light absorption can inspire modern solar technology.
symbiot/Shutterstock
Paul South, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
As the climate changes and the population grows, meeting the demand for food will become more difficult as arable land declines. But an international team of scientists has figured out an innovative solution to dramatically bumping up crop yields.
Long’s Peak framed by rock outcrop, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.
Roy Luck
Scientists have long thought most nitrogen in Earth’s ecosystems comes from the air, but new research shows it also is released as rocks weather. This could boost plant growth and help sequester carbon – but not fast enough to avert climate change, as some pundits have claimed.
This is an article from Curious Kids, a series for children. The Conversation is asking kids to send in questions they’d like an expert to answer. All questions are welcome – serious, weird or wacky! Why…
Diatoms - like those seen under a microscope here - can teach us a lot about harvesting light.
Rattiya Thongdumhyu/Shutterstock
A seed contains nearly everything a tree needs to get growing. Just add a dash of water, a bit of warmth and the right location, and you’ll be seeing green in no time.
If harnessed properly, the sun holds tremendous potential to provide sustainable energy for the earth.
Cassava makes up nearly 50 percent of the diet in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, where populations are projected to increase by more than 120 percent in the next 30 years.
CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture
Cassava is a key food source in tropical countries, but yields have been flat for decades. New genetic research is identifying many options for boosting production of this valuable staple crop.
Photosynthesis can teach scientists a lot about solar technologies.
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Individual light-harvesting protein complexes have a remarkable ability. Light, which is normally effectively harvested, is also used to finely control how much of it should be harvested.
If leaves can do it, why can’t we?
Leaf image from www.shutterstock.com
Distinguished Professor Graham Farquhar has received this year’s Prime Minister’s Prize for Science for his pioneering research into photosynthesis.
Packing heat: concentrating sunlight into a reactor to split H2O and CO2 – a step toward making liquid fuels.
Courtesy of Professor David Hahn, University of Florida
Rooftop solar power is exploding in the US but some scientists are pursuing a radically different route in renewable energy: storing solar energy as a liquid fuel.
Observations from space have shown the world overall is getting greener despite deforestation and drought.
Carl Davies/CSIRO
Photosynthesis can be costly - but plants in hot and dry environments have evolved two special strategies for storing carbon dioxide, that could be used to protect crops against climate change.
Plants use photosynthesis to build molecules and energy they can use. By copying plants, humans can make cleaner fuels.
Ranjit Bhatnagar/Flickr
Most of the energy that fuels our lives comes from plants. Whether it is a fossil fuel that was formed hundreds of millions of years ago or the food we eat, all carbon-borne energy has its ultimate origins…