Low-Light Photosynthesis Understanding

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photosynthesis

Quanta Magazine

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Science

What happens at low light? This is the story of the polar night

Summary

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79% Informative

Study shows that in some of the coldest, darkest places on Earth , life blooms with the barest quantum of light.

Biologists have long been curious about just how little light photosynthesis can run on.

In winter 2020 , Clara Hoppe spent months living on an ice floe, through the polar night , to study the limits of photosynthesis in the dark.

Scientists studied microalgae from seawater and sea ice in the Arctic .

Microalgae 's carbon uptake jumped, along with the number of cells and the concentration of chlorophyll.

Light sensors recorded an astronomically small number of photons.

The actual amount of light was probably lower than the theoretical minimum light that photosynthesis can run on.

Researchers aren't entirely sure how microalgae managed to stay alive and out of dormancy through the darkest times.

Finding is “important work that’s a reality check about what nature really does” Researchers aren’t sure how they managed to eke out a living from stray photons that passed through cracks in the ice.

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informal

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English

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not offensive

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not hateful