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I have a question about what biological endothermic reactions were used by the anaerobic organisms to capture solar energy, which could then be utilized to provide energy, three billion years ago. I haven’t found the answer in the articles that I have read so far. Two billion years ago, the planet was not that different than it is today, and photosynthesis converted water and carbon dioxide into glucose with the release of diatomic oxygen. The development of photosynthesis by the cyanobacteria, approximately 2.5 billion years ago, resulted in the great oxygenation event or oxygen catastrophe, and aerobic life became dominant. What endothermic reactions captured solar energy, presumably with less captured energy, prior to photosynthesis? I am assuming that there were endothermic processes capturing solar energy, because otherwise life would have been running entirely on leftover energy. Were the early endothermic reactions inorganic? Regardless of whether they were organic or inorganic, do they still occur in the modern oxygen-based world? Robert McClenon ( talk) 03:15, 24 October 2016 (UTC)
In a laser, stimulated emission seems to copy a photon in all regards with a second photon of the same type. This seems like a way of detecting a photon without intercepting it, because you could, say, look for further emissions from atoms that have dropped into a lower-energy (but not ground-energy) state as the result of intercepting a photon.
Suppose you have a quantum-entangled photon pass through an atom, stimulating emission of a second identical photon of that type. A moment later, the atom is subjected to a strong magnetic field, so that the polarization of the electron affects the subsequent emission as it drops further in state. Then you can find out the polarization of the photon (which I'll suppose carries an encrypted message). Does that let you eavesdrop on the secret message?
Bonus... actually, I was wondering if there's any way to use this to detect neutrinos without really stopping them. Wnt ( talk) 16:34, 24 October 2016 (UTC)
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The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it. |
Although we call them gas giants, is it not true that they must have solid cores due to the gravitational forces acting?-- 213.205.252.244 ( talk) 17:16, 24 October 2016 (UTC) |
Visual Detection and Ranging
etc. Hcobb ( talk) 23:15, 24 October 2016 (UTC)
Science desk | ||
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< October 23 | << Sep | October | Nov >> | October 25 > |
Welcome to the Wikipedia Science Reference Desk Archives |
---|
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages. |
I have a question about what biological endothermic reactions were used by the anaerobic organisms to capture solar energy, which could then be utilized to provide energy, three billion years ago. I haven’t found the answer in the articles that I have read so far. Two billion years ago, the planet was not that different than it is today, and photosynthesis converted water and carbon dioxide into glucose with the release of diatomic oxygen. The development of photosynthesis by the cyanobacteria, approximately 2.5 billion years ago, resulted in the great oxygenation event or oxygen catastrophe, and aerobic life became dominant. What endothermic reactions captured solar energy, presumably with less captured energy, prior to photosynthesis? I am assuming that there were endothermic processes capturing solar energy, because otherwise life would have been running entirely on leftover energy. Were the early endothermic reactions inorganic? Regardless of whether they were organic or inorganic, do they still occur in the modern oxygen-based world? Robert McClenon ( talk) 03:15, 24 October 2016 (UTC)
In a laser, stimulated emission seems to copy a photon in all regards with a second photon of the same type. This seems like a way of detecting a photon without intercepting it, because you could, say, look for further emissions from atoms that have dropped into a lower-energy (but not ground-energy) state as the result of intercepting a photon.
Suppose you have a quantum-entangled photon pass through an atom, stimulating emission of a second identical photon of that type. A moment later, the atom is subjected to a strong magnetic field, so that the polarization of the electron affects the subsequent emission as it drops further in state. Then you can find out the polarization of the photon (which I'll suppose carries an encrypted message). Does that let you eavesdrop on the secret message?
Bonus... actually, I was wondering if there's any way to use this to detect neutrinos without really stopping them. Wnt ( talk) 16:34, 24 October 2016 (UTC)
Banned user |
---|
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it. |
Although we call them gas giants, is it not true that they must have solid cores due to the gravitational forces acting?-- 213.205.252.244 ( talk) 17:16, 24 October 2016 (UTC) |
Visual Detection and Ranging
etc. Hcobb ( talk) 23:15, 24 October 2016 (UTC)