the.com/respiration
the slow-motion fire that burns your dinner without ever lighting a flame
means The process of breathing air in and out, or more technically, the biological process by which cells break down food molecules to release energy.
from From Latin 'respirare,' to breathe again — built from 're-' (back, again) and 'spirare' (to breathe), the same 'spirare' that breathes through 'spirit,' 'inspire,' 'expire,' and 'conspire' (literally, to breathe together). The ancients felt breath and life and soul were one and the same thing, which is why so many of these words still carry a whiff of the divine.
- per breath
- oxygen powers your cells to make ATP energy
- powerhouse
- mitochondria run respiration using ancient bacterial machinery
- daily haul
- humans breathe around 20,000 times each day
- reverse trick
- photosynthesis is basically respiration running backwards
- glucose math
- one sugar molecule yields up to 38 ATP
mount everest climbers — humans at 8,849m altitude have oxygen levels ~34% of sea level, requiring supplemental breathing
diving world record — herbert nitsch held static apnea record at 9 minutes 2 seconds without breathing
greenhouse gas emissions — global human respiration produces ~200 billion tons of co2 annually, measurable in atmosphere
mitochondrial atp synthesis — aerobic respiration in human cells generates 30-32 atp molecules per glucose molecule