How Plants Produce Food Via Photosynthesis

If a leaf is magnified 1000x, green bacteria like structures can be observed, referred to as “chloroplasts,” which are packed into virtually every cell of a plant. These chloroplasts behave like bacteria, retaining their own deoxyribonucleic acid, and are only 5000ths of 1 millimeter (0.005 millimeters or 5 micrometers) in diameter. It is inside chloroplasts that photosynthesis occurs. Photons, which are tiny and rapid moving particles of electromagnetic energy (e.g. rays of light), are harvested upon the surface of the plant’s leaves, where they then enter the plant’s cells and are absorbed by the light harvesting complex located within the chloroplasts themselves. It is here that the photon is leveraged to drive the photolysis reaction, which is to split a water molecule and release oxygen, electrons, and hydrogen ions, fueling the energy transfer mechanisms that ultimately convert carbon dioxide into sugars for the plant’s growth and survival

The Lush Forests of Australia and Antarctica During the Mesozoic Period and the Reason Antarctica Became Cold

Both Australia and Antarctica were once fused together as part of the supercontinent Gondwana, neither being an arid and hot landscape nor a cold desert but instead a vast and lush forest, larger than the Amazon Rainforest, spanning thousands of kilometers in size. The reason Antarctica is no longer temperate and forested is because in contrast to most shorelines which disrupt and disperse ocean currents upon contact with the coastline, the waters around Antarctica encircle it unobstructed, forming the Antarctic Circumpolar Current after the Drake Passage opened 34,000,000 (34 million) years ago. Because there is no land to stop this flow of water, it forces the current to become stronger and deeper over time. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current cut the continent of Antarctica off from the warm waters of the north, a thermal isolation further exacerbated by decreasing carbon dioxide levels over millions of years. In a mere 1,000,000 (1 million) years during a rapid cooling phase, although the full shift took tens of millions of years to complete, Antarctica transitioned from an appearance which resembled Australia during its wetter, forested period of the Cenozoic Era, to become a frozen tundra, virtually uninhabitable by humans until the mid 20th century, due to its subzero temperatures which consistently remain far below any other location upon Earth, as well as being locked in by vast ice sheets which formed 14,000,000 (14 million) years ago

The Test Subject and Scientific Experiment Which Proved the Fear Response in Human Beings Does Not Solely Reside Within the Amygdala

Justin Feinstein is one of the few scientists who have been able to study a woman who has zero fear response. To protect the woman’s identity, this subject is known only as “S.M.”, and Feinstein has had the opportunity to work with her under laboratory conditions and in real world scenarios (e.g. coffee meeting, sporting event, professional conference etc.) for the past 15 years as of 2018. S.M.’s lack of fear has had unexpected consequences within her life, as she displays no sense of typical fear induced scenarios (e.g. personal space, feeling completely comfortable being nose to nose with a complete stranger as the concept of personal space and discomfort has no meaning), heightened by the fact that S.M. does not produce typical signals of distrust when interacting with a novel person. S.M. lacks fear because she is without her amygdala, a physical trait observed in very few human beings, making S.M. one of the only people in the world to produce this physiology. S.M. has no amygdala because she has been diagnosed with Urbach-Wiethe Disease (pronounced “urr-bock vee-they”). The underlying etymology of Urbach-Wiethe Disease is still unknown but in patients with the condition, specific portions of the brain, in both hemispheres, can become subject to selective calcification which erodes the ability to function as designed. The amygdala acts as a sentry for potential fearful stimuli, and produces a response accordingly. The removal of or inability of the amygdala to work correctly results in a complete and total lack and/or loss of fear. This condition has caused S.M. considerable difficulty during her life as she has experienced dangerous interactions with those participating within the illicit drug trade. Upon one occasion, a stranger ran up to S.M., placed a firearm against her temple, and yelled “bang!”. Neighbors witnessed this event and notified law enforcement which puzzled S.M. as she did not view the event as dangerous or alarming and therefore did not expect to be contacted by the police. When the human body detects the intake of too much carbon dioxide, it can become pushed into a state of alarm. Feinstein wanted to better understand what would occur if he interfered with S.M.’s respiratory system, using 35% carbon dioxide during the first trial run. Feinstein found that S.M. was immediately fearful after a single intake breath, despite his original hypothesis of no fear response being observed. S.M. displayed an immediate and dramatic fear response with S.M. herself describing it as the “most intense fear ever felt” during her entire life. This single breath was revolutionary for neurology as it definitively proved that the amygdala is not the only region of the brain which controls and is related to fear

The Reason Carbonated Drinks Become Flat

Carbonated drinks are in a state of super saturation in respect to how much carbon dioxide they contain. Once a solution has reached complete saturation, it won’t allow any more of whatever substance is saturating it. If salt is added to a glass of water, eventually it will reach a point in which the salt just falls to the bottom rather than being dissolved in the water due to over saturation. If a solution is heated, it will be able to tolerate higher levels of saturation, and if it is cooled it is able to tolerate lesser levels of saturation. Carbonated drinks are water saturated with carbon dioxide, and this carbon dioxide is always looking for a method to escape which is why all carbonated drinks eventually turn flat provided enough time has passed. When sugar is added to a carbonated drink, the sugar nucleates the drink in that it provides a method of escape for the carbon dioxide present. Sugar, Mentos, and other various substances have a large surface area which allows a lot of carbon dioxide to become attached to it resulting in a rapid escape

The Reason Underground Caves Naturally Form

Cave systems form when acidic water etches its way through rock. Rainwater becomes acidic as it takes in carbon dioxide and groundwater can become acidic due to the acids found in nearby soil. Water causes existing cracks within the rock to widen into passages which the water flows through to create even wider channels. Over time caverns begin to form as the rock weakens and falls