Timeline for Evolution of a creature that uses light as a weapon
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
11 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 24, 2015 at 11:18 | vote | accept | Tim B | ||
| Apr 22, 2015 at 20:37 | comment | added | James | @dsollen This is a cool idea Dan. I think (responding to the comments section) one of the major issues with the idea is the heat conversation. How much heat would this generate and at what temperature do the chemo-synthetic cells begin to break down from the temperature...there is an answer to that but it has been a really long time since chemistry so someone will have to dig into that for me. | |
| Apr 22, 2015 at 15:13 | comment | added | dsollen | @DanSmolinske You could try to start packing more and more chlorophyll into one space, to up the amount of energy converts running in parallel, but eventually your reach a limit in how much you can fit into one area because, well they take up space and you still need to devote methods to transporting the resulting sugars away. It's easier to spread out your energy adapters then try to pack them all in one area. Also I feel waste heat would grow to be a real problem, but lack the biological knowledge to say for sure how. | |
| Apr 22, 2015 at 15:09 | comment | added | dsollen | @DanSmolinske there are two limitations. There is the "how much energy can I convert from light in general' question, which is decided by how many other raw materials you have to fuel the process. There is also the question of "how much photosynthesis can this piece of chlorophyll do". This limit has more to do with wavelength of light and how it's absorbed, but generally there is a limit to it. You can only convert so much energy at one time because your limited by how fast you can convert it to a stable organic source (atp, sugar, protein whatever). | |
| Apr 22, 2015 at 15:03 | comment | added | Dan Smolinske | @dsollen (and Ghanima): Interesting points. You made me do some reading, and the indications I found are that light intensity stops being beneficial when it runs into one of the other limiting factors (CO2 concentrations or temperature). This suggests to me that this type of tree might still be viable if 1) the planet it evolved on had consistently higher CO2 concentrations, and 2) the trees grew in colder climes, so heating up was beneficial rather than a negative. Thoughts? Definitely not my area of expertise. | |
| Apr 22, 2015 at 14:55 | comment | added | dsollen | I was randomly researching why trees are always green earlier today, so I happen to know that there are limits in the way photosynthesis works which limit how much energy a given leaf can absorb at once, going beyond that level does not provide much advantage in photosynthesis. using lenses to focus energy to one point would not significantly increase the energy that point is able to get from the sunlight, and the extra heat from that much energy would likely cause harm to the plant. Even ignoring the cost of growing 'lenses' it wouldn't be an adaptive approach. Still, it is a cool idea :) | |
| Apr 22, 2015 at 11:37 | comment | added | Murphy | @Ghanima good point... perhaps it could be salvaged with something along the lines of a world where chloroplasts never developed but colony organisms like jellyfish containing pools of chloroplast-like bacteria did. Focusing the light into one area could make sense then. Roll on a billion years and you might have treelike organisms with hard outer layers, internal pools of chloroplast-things and jelly-like lenses instead of leaves to collect light for the internal colonies. Would probably need lots of water. | |
| Apr 22, 2015 at 8:30 | comment | added | Ghanima | Concentrating light and photosynthesis in living things has a major concern - and that's the temperature increase in the target spot coagulating your proteins and boiling your water. So the development path "gathering light" by means of lenses has to be carefully designed. Second, real world photosynthesis peaks at intensities way below full sunshine so concentration yields no benefit (at least without photosynthesis developing completely different to what we know). | |
| Apr 21, 2015 at 21:24 | comment | added | DoubleDouble | Lens Trees are vulnerable to the Mirror-Mites, which use the same crystalline material as part of its exoskeleton to actually reflect most of the light away from its body. They can then survive for short spans of time while feeding on the tree and then retreat to some safe area afterward. Some light shows bring several Lens Trees and release a bunch of mirror mites and watch them battle for hours. | |
| Apr 21, 2015 at 18:21 | comment | added | Ditto | This almost lends credibility to Durkon's blight .. here: giantitp.com/comics/oots0150.html lol | |
| Apr 21, 2015 at 17:57 | history | answered | Dan Smolinske | CC BY-SA 3.0 |