• NegativeInfEnglish
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    19 days ago
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    The purple sulfur bacteria provide strong support for the purple Earth hypothesis.

    In short, early Earth was largely anoxic. Since the sun’s energy reaches Earth’s surface most efficiently in the green region of the visible spectrum, the most energy-efficient way for early photosynthesizers would have been to absorb green light while reflecting red and blue—resulting in a purple color.

    To compete, a new group of organisms evolved that reflected green light and absorbed red and blue to make sugars. This group also produced oxygen, which was toxic to the anoxic purple sulfur bacteria. As the Earth became increasingly oxygenated, these green photosynthesizers outcompeted the purple ones.

    Purple sulfur bacteria still exist today but are limited to oxygen-free environments.

    • lefaucetEnglish
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      19 days ago
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      This is the coolest thing I’ve learned all month!

  • BigBlackBuckEnglish
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    19 days ago
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    Did you just read one of the Bobiverse books? I just searched this like 3 days ago because the Bobs were talking about it.

    • PlumOPMEnglish
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      18 days ago
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      Not the Bobiverse. I don’t know that series yet. Do you recommend it?

      I had to check my history:

      Snowball Earth->Tonian->Boring Billion->Purple Earth Hypothesis

      • BigBlackBuckEnglish
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        18 days ago
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        16 days ago
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        Definitely recommend the series, and the audio books narrated by Ray Porter are excellent as well.

        We are legion(We are Bob)
        For we are many
        All these worlds
        Heaven’s River
        Not till we are lost

        By: Dennis E Taylor

        Two of the Bobs were talking about a purple planet and said it was due to retinal so I had to look it up.

        • CrayonRosaryEnglish
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          16 days ago
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          We are legion(We are Bob) For we are many All these worlds Heaven’s River Not till we are lost

          For better or worse, you can’t just make a normal-looking list in markdown. It all runs together into a single paragraph. You have to add two spaces to the end of each line in order to keep the line breaks. Or you could add an asterisk and space at the front of each line for a bulleted list.

          We are legion(We are Bob)
          For we are many
          All these worlds
          Heaven’s River
          Not till we are lost

      • joostjakobEnglish
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        18 days ago
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        The bobiverse is quite enjoyable if you’re looking for some light, good natured space fun. The story is pretty original.

      • CrayonRosaryEnglish
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        16 days ago
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        Let me spoil the events of the first chapter or two of We Are Legion.

        Spoiler

        Guy gets rich making an app and selling it to Google (or whoever). On the way home, as a joke, he takes some of the money and signs up for a company that freezes your head after death. He is immediately hit by a car and dies.

        Fast forward 200 years: he wakes up!

        Turns out his consciousness is not in his brain at all. He’s in a computer. They stick him in a deep space probe and launch him into space. This is a special probe that can self-replicate at the atomic level. He can literally clone his (probe) body and consciousness.

        Then shenanigans happen.

        It’s a really good series.

    • Lem453English
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      18 days ago
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      Excellent series. Waiting for the 5th to come out in print (its audio book only until later this year)

  • magikmwEnglish
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    19 days ago
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    I love learning that since dawn of time bacteria types would just screw each other in a blood feud cycle of violence and death.