Episode 145 - Photosynthesis

We live in a solar-powered world. Photosynthesis is the process by which some organisms (notably plants and cyanobacteria) harness the energy of sunlight to power their own metabolism, in the process creating the sugars (food) which provide a source of energy for all sorts of other organisms, not to mention releasing oxygen as well. Photosynthesis is the reason our planet is the way it is, from the diversity of life to the composition of the atmosphere. In this episode, we discuss the diversity of photosynthesis and photosynthesizers, what we know about the evolutionary history of the process, and how it has profoundly changed the world. In the news: freshwater plesiosaurs, endothermy evolution, whale shark diets, and bone-crushing dogs. Time markers: Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00 News: 00:08:30 Main discussion, Part 1: 00:43:30 Main discussion, Part 2: 01:45:30 Patron question: 02:31:00 Please forgive our mismatched audio in the Intro and News sections. We recently appeared on the Juras-Sick-Park-Cast! https://jurassickparkcast.blogspot.com/2022/07/episode-20-when-dinosaurs-ruled-earth.html Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures: http://commondescentpodcast.wordpress.com/ Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast  Or make a one-time donation via PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/4c68u4hp Find merch at the Common Descent Store! http://zazzle.com/common_descent Join the Common Descent Discord server! https://discord.gg/CwPBxdh9Ev Follow and Support us on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/CommonDescentPC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/commondescentpodcast Instagram: @commondescentpodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCePRXHEnZmTGum2r1l2mduw PodBean: https://commondescentpodcast.podbean.com/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-common-descent-podcast/id1207586509?mt=2 You can email us at commondescentpodcast(at)gmail.com Or send us physical mail at: The Common Descent Podcast 1735 W State of Franklin Rd. Ste 5 #165 Johnson City, TN 37604 The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org. Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/