Episode 145 - Photosynthesis

The Common Descent Podcast

Common Descent

Science, Education, Earth Sciences, Natural Sciences, Science:natural Sciences

4.8 • 764 Ratings

🗓️ 7 August 2022

⏱️ 162 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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: 00:00:00News: 00:08:30Main discussion, Part 1: 00:43:30Main discussion, Part 2: 01:45:30Patron question: 02:31:00Please 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/CommonDescentPCFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/commondescentpodcastInstagram: @commondescentpodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCePRXHEnZmTGum2r1l2mduwPodBean: 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.comOr send us physical mail at:The Common Descent Podcast1735 W State of Franklin Rd. Ste 5 #165Johnson 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 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to the Common Descent Podcast.
0:18.8	Hello, Will.
0:20.0	Hello, David. Hello, David.
0:21.1	Hello, listeners, and welcome to the Common Descent podcast episode 145.
0:27.1	If you're new to the podcast, this is a podcast about paleontology, evolution, and the history of life on Earth.
0:33.5	And also, if you're new to the podcast, these days, every episode that ends in a five, we talk about plant stuff.
0:39.5	Yeah, we do.
0:40.8	This episode, our topic to discuss is photosynthesis.
0:45.5	Photosynthesis.
0:46.2	Photosynthesis.
0:47.2	Which means a couple of things.
0:48.8	Number one, it means we're talking about more than just plants.
0:51.3	Yes.
0:51.7	Because that is not just a plant thing.
0:53.7	We're going to be outsour expanding a little bit today.
0:57.0	It also means we will be joined as usual by our special plant-themed guest, Dr. Ali Baumgardner,
1:04.2	after the break, after the news, after the announcements, when we get into the main discussion,
1:08.2	Ali will join us to talk about what photosynthesis is,
1:12.0	how it works, what the different varieties of photosynthesis are, the different flavors
1:18.5	that are out there, and who does it, and what we know about the ancient history of the process.
1:25.7	I'm very excited. I always found photosynthesis very interesting back in biology 101 and botany.
1:32.3	Yeah, well, this should be one of those topics that really puts into context a lot of stuff we've talked about in previous episodes of the podcast.
	...

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