Not a recent article, but this at least does confirm (what I’ve heard from many people also) that plants do communicate with one another. Fascinating!

http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/10247/20120611/plants-communication-survival.htm

Boredom is your window on the properties of time that one tends to ignore to the likely peril of one’s mental equilibrium. It is your window on time’s infinity. Once this window opens, don’t try to shut it; on the contrary, throw it wide open.”
― Joseph Brodsky

“Bliss – a-second-by-second joy and gratitude at the gift of being alive, conscious – lies on the other side of crushing, crushing boredom. Pay close attention to the most tedious thing you can find (Tax Returns, Televised Golf) and, in waves, a boredom like you’ve never known will wash over you and just about kill you. Ride these out, and it’s like stepping from black and white into color. Like water after days in the desert. Instant bliss in every atom.”
― David Foster Wallace

I am glad I read through your comments section because I was wondering *why* a plant converted H2O to O2 (so… where did the H go?) but it got answered, thankfully, in the comments. You might want to consider adding that to your original explanation:) That the H is used to make ATP. I actually have a biology degree, but I really don’t think we ever covered *this*. Yes, I also assumed it was CO2 -> O2. Although farther down in your explanation you say that the 6 extra O go to making 3x O2 for breathing, but then doesn’t that means that SOME of the CO2 goes to O2?

This might be a far out question, but how is it possible that we have more carbon now than we did 10,000 years ago? We aren’t ‘creating’ carbon, so where is it coming from? Is it because we are burning fossil fuels, so we are ‘freeing’ that carbon? If that is the case, then it would be wonderful to create a device that converts H2O and CO2 into O2 and just C (which could be made into graphite, or graphene, or carbon nanotubes, etc). Carbon is such an excellent super conductor, that it seems as though we should spend more time isolating it out of CO2. If we figure out how to make diamonds out of it directly, that would be helpful too.

So… the reason I am so interested in this all of a sudden is because of Mars. If we could make a large dome of some sort, and figure out how to effectively use solar panels to convert enough CO2 to O2, then we could start planting trees in the dome to convert more. (short version of my thought) But clearly all that would do it simply lock up the carbon in carbohydrates:( Is there any chemical process that will release the O2 from the carbohydrates? (I am totally okay with you editing this down, or omitting it from the comments if it is too unwieldy, etc:) )

Thanks! -Isabelle

I found this fascinating. In my nievity I had assumed that plants grew towards the light, it hadnt occured to me gravity was involved.

Thanks

Helen