the.com/photosynthesis
the original solar startup, turning sunlight into sugar and quietly building every breath you take
means The process by which green plants, algae, and some bacteria use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugars, releasing oxygen as a byproduct.
from Built from two Greek pieces: phōs, phōtos, "light," and synthesis, "a putting together" (from syn-, "with," and tithenai, "to place"). So at root it means "assembling with light" — a tidy description of the chemistry. The compound is a relatively modern scientific coinage, stitched together in the 19th century once botanists understood that plants were quite literally building themselves out of light and air.
- oxygen source
- Nearly all atmospheric oxygen traces back to it
- ancient invention
- Cyanobacteria did it 2.4 billion years ago
- speed
- Light energy captured in millionths of a billionth of a second
- efficiency
- Plants use only about 1 percent of sunlight
- hidden engine
- Powers nearly every food chain on Earth
amazon rainforest — produces ~20% of world's oxygen through 390 billion trees
phytoplankton in oceans — generates 50% of earth's oxygen despite covering vast water areas
wheat crops global — converts sunlight to food for 2 billion people annually