I am over 70 years old and still work in medical research because it is so important and exciting. Over the past decade I’ve attempted to wrap my head around the increasing divergent narratives concerning global warming, the causes and risks of climate change, fossil fuels, nuclear vs “green” energy sources, etc.; and trying to extract what evidence I can from the hyperbole and noise that presents - and unfortunately obfuscates - the issues at hand. Then I chanced upon your KZread channel... clear, unpressurized, concise, information presented in a manner designed to make us think, assess and weigh the evidence ourselves, then arrive at a conclusion that is our own. Never preachy, and always down-to-earth, you are the embodiment of the ancient and honorable term “Teacher”. Thank you so very much.

@williamgoode9114

3 жыл бұрын

Fully concur, we are certainly informed as we dutifully chose Joe or Donald and let them lead us.

@JustHaveaThink

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Bruce. Thank you so much for such positive feedback. It is perhaps the highest accolade I could have hoped for to be ranked alongside teachers.

@itWouldBeWise

3 жыл бұрын

Potholer54 is another channel that is must watch, there are few channels out there that demonstrate how to practice true critical thinking when it comes to evaluating the science and getting past the various media biases

@gordonlawrence1448

3 жыл бұрын

@@itWouldBeWise Part of the issue though is a lot of people are simply not capable of "critical engagement". Remember 10% do not even have the cognitive capacity to be able to follow simple written instructions or link cause and effect. Sad but true. The worst thing about it is that society in general does nothing to help them.

I did my PhD in plant biotech and even I hate the names of these enzymes and struggled with.. Other area that you might find interesting is that scientists are trying to turn rice which is a C3 plant into a C4 plant to increase its performance during water shortage. Also another amazing area is that a kind of sea slug eats the sea algae and transfers its chloroplasts to its upper surface its body which continue to photosynthesize and produce energy for the animal. To me it is mind blowing and still cant get my head around it as it is not only Chloroplast but the entire complex range of organs and organelles needed to keep the system going. Thanks for your interesting videos.

@kirkdouglas2573

3 жыл бұрын

Wow!

@JustHaveaThink

3 жыл бұрын

Wow! That sounds fascinating. I'll look that up :-)

@drpk6514

3 жыл бұрын

@@JustHaveaThink kzread.info/dash/bejne/c5eMlNBqoqaah5c.html

@williamgoode9114

3 жыл бұрын

Another amazing development is that Americas' COSTCO had an opening special in Shanghai of dirt cheap sea slugs, it really is a race to the bottom with humanity, in all parts of the World seeing a tree as vertical lumber and in the way of grazing, subsequently followed by dry bores and mudslides, sure research how clever nature is on the micro but stop breaking down the macro and stop breeding and being so destructive and darn right cruel to animals, we need better policy on how this Earth is managed to be sustainable, every country has deforested, collectively now over generations that's most trees gone, and the remainder, including rainforest, burning or at least very dry, not sure the predicament is fully realised, C3 to C4 when we have billions too many mouths to feed, is just fiddling while Rome burns !

@christopherellis2663

3 жыл бұрын

O goody! More carbohydrates for the masses. They come back for more and die before they become useless

I'm enjoying and learning quite a bit from these presentations. Thanks for all your hard work.

@JustHaveaThink

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Allan. I'm delighted to hear they're proving useful.

You call them plants, I call them highly sophisticated, self-replicating molecular machines that convert CO2 into food and construction material without power supply unit.

@albertrogers2506

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, but they still haven't found a way to make use of the energy band we call 'green' !

@grindupBaker

3 жыл бұрын

British Government bureaucrat for a living ? Yes, Minister.

@jeffarcher400

3 жыл бұрын

Perhaps more than food and building materials but ancient creatures that like whales and elephants deserve more than being used.

@kaitlyn__L

3 жыл бұрын

@@albertrogers2506 actually, there are photosynthesisers who process solely green (they look pink to us). It’s an evolutionary “choice” (that’s inappropriate anthropomorphisation but oh well) moreso than a failure of ability. Plants, had they evolved from these guys instead of from cyanobacteria, could well have pink leaves today.

@johanneskingma

2 жыл бұрын

Plants provide beauty both in vision and olifactory. Food and construction material sounds a bit unpoetic

This is legitimately the start to things we dreamed of in science fiction. In 40 years technology will have changed so much that society would be recognizable to us now. This video makes me hopeful.

Biology knows how to make a living. It's been in business for a billion years.

@paulcassidy4559

3 жыл бұрын

Fuck, this is such a great line lol. Thanks.

@loungelizard836

3 жыл бұрын

True. Yet, it can certainly be improved. I mean, birds have been flying for millions of years, yet they can't go as fast or as high as planes can!

@chuckgrigsby9664

3 жыл бұрын

Not at all clear to me how scientists doing biology are distinct from biology doing biology. Scientists are the result of biology doing biology.

@EctoMorpheus

3 жыл бұрын

@@loungelizard836 nor do they need tonnes of fossil fuel per flight lol. A better comparison there would be drones, and drones are way noisier and have a much shorter time of flight than any given bird.

@albertrogers2506

3 жыл бұрын

@@loungelizard836 Perhaps that just shows that there's very little real advantage in it. Douglas Adams's character recognised that we think we're smarter than dolphins, because we have digital watches and atomic bombs. Dolphins think themselves smarter than humans, _for _*_exactly_*_ the same reasons._

I like this channel. It makes me feel less bleak, and in a way that doesn't feel deliberately self delusional.

@TheEVEInspiration

3 жыл бұрын

You know what is delusional? Starve the plants of their food and ourself of oxigen, "to save the planet".

@caimacd

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheEVEInspiration lol wut?

@electron8262

3 жыл бұрын

TheEVEInspiration When did anyone say that we need to starve the plants of food or ourselves of oxygen..?

@sodalitia

3 жыл бұрын

@@electron8262 Just don't feed the troll. They need to be starved.

@TheEVEInspiration

3 жыл бұрын

@@electron8262 Are you that limited in thinking capacity? Plants need CO2, if we are going to "consume it instead", these plants starve, plain and simple. If the plants starve, we have to make oxygen ourselfs somehow, and any tiny failure will be a catastrophe. Oh, and who is going to control the artifical setup? You got it, a totalitarian nightmare untill we are all dead and finally free. Have a good day moron!

Every time I tune into this channel, I learn something new and amazing that gives me hope for the future. Thanks.

Wow, this is probably the one of the most important thing we could be working on. The possibilitys that could come from this are amazing.

@TheEVEInspiration

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, lets starve the plants of their food and ourself of oxigen, "to save the planet".

@thomasalbrecht5914

3 жыл бұрын

TheEVEInspiration errm... you might want to watch the video again.

@albertrogers2506

3 жыл бұрын

"The possibilities that could come from this are amazing" -- true, but nowhere near enough. Planting trees is better than windmills and solar panels.

Great video as always, one of the best accessible science based channels on KZread

@JustHaveaThink

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Mick. I really appreciate that :-)

Oh nature, your sacks of joyfulness please us so.

@jackdavids2723

3 жыл бұрын

Do you mean it as a euphemism for something?

This is huge! Cracking the mystery of plant processes to capture energy and create new organic compounds. Thank you for creating this video.

I just found your channel and I'm blown away with all the information. 🔬Science is amazing. 👍👍

This news puts a smile on my face. Thanks Dave for sharing.

Hang on.. Reverse engineering photosynthesis on a massive scale, using engineering rather than biological means, could become a game changing tool to combat climate change... Is this video understating the importance of this research??? Wow.

@dianewallace6064

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed. It grows 100 times faster than a plant. This is basically a carbon offset whether it is ever used to make stuff, fuel etc. If viable soon, this would be a total game changer stop the damage yet to be done. I can see huge pools/lakes of these fast-growing chloroplasts. My question: Can this chloroplast get into the environment and become an invasive species?

@michaeldarnell6074

3 жыл бұрын

@@dianewallace6064 not exactly, because its not a self-reproducing life form per se, its a biological product, produced from spinach, combined with chemically engineered complex of enzymes in a manufactured bubble. Its more like a nanoscale cyborg

So amazing what scientists are developing to solve our environmental problems! I only wish psychology researchers would also step up their game to finally figure out how to convince climate change deniers and make people less wasteful. That would avoid so many problems from the beginning, instead of other disciplines having to clean up the mess later.

This is the type of content that makes me glad to have subscribed! Awesome!

@JustHaveaThink

3 жыл бұрын

Cheers! I appreciate that :-)

I like your channel a lot. You don’t underestimate your audience, and have a great delivery. Thank you!

Fantastic video. What an amazing concept. Custom made biochemical factories, tailor made to produce any carbon compound you want.

You've been on a roll lately. I love it!

Love your channel. I always learn a lot when I tune in.

I love your presentations. This one in particular is great to hear as it gives some much needed good news.

Normally, I do an occasional yawn when it comes to any articles, videos or otherwise, on mimicking plant photosynthesis, because plants do it so well, so let's let them do it. That is, plant more plants. A lot more. But this is very interesting. The goal of industrial scale production of oxygen, with no downside if I read this correctly, means that we can get closer to perfecting the climate for humans and every other existing species [ I'm speculating far off into the future]. OK, so it is interfering with nature, but we've been doing that on an industrial scale detrimentally for hundreds of years. This would be one asset that we could give back easily. The times just get ever more interesting.

@charliedoyle7824

3 жыл бұрын

We're already doing artificial photosynthesis much more efficiently than plants, and with further incremental catalysis improvements and lots of scale, we'll be making jetfuel and other hydrocarbons cheaper than fossil fuel companies. I think many people don't see this coming, but it is coming in the next two decades.

@albertrogers2506

3 жыл бұрын

I couldn't be bothered to watch the video to find out, but were any actual results quoted? The thing is, that in possibly three billion years, certainly one billion, the rewards of evolution have not resulted in photosynthesis succeeding in making use of the band of light called 'green'. Photochemistry must be very, very difficult. Note that the difficult phenomenon called "the eye" has been independently brought to a high level in four completely separate ways, by birds, mammals, insects, and cephalopods (octopus, cuttlefish, etc), and pit vipers have infrared vision as well as using light visible to us. That's how clever evolution is. Some birds are known to have four-colour vision. Parrots apparently can even talk about it.

Hi Dave! I've just become a patreon member of yours and now I feel absolutely "amazing"! I love your pertinent content, and your presentations allow me to see and think - about your topics. You are amazing, and I'm becoming so very brilliant! Thanks for the bubbles churning in my brain, and the thoughts of productivity vs gloom!!

@JustHaveaThink

3 жыл бұрын

Hi chinookvalley. Bless you for your kind comments and thank you so much for suporting the channel at Patreon. I really appreciate it. Welcome to the team :-)

I joined your patrion $10/month. I know making these informative videos is a lot of hard work, and for such a good cause. Thank you! 💚

Thank you for this vital introduction!

That sounds very interesting ! Thanks for that.

Well done Dave, an excellent explainer video on an increasingly important topic.

Time for a follow up episode! That is if any progress has been made. Thank for all your hard work.

My mind is blown!!! If it wasn't for You Tube older people who are out of "the loop" would have no idea scientists, archaeologists, and the like are making discoveries and gaining control in areas that were previously labelled mysteries. Thank you.

HOW can anyone not love science? Every kid should have a day at these facilities to see how limitless the possibilities are.

Very interesting! Thanks, great video as always :)

Good one👍🏼 , this sound realy interesting. Thanks for another good video.

Thanks for the great video, as always! The theory that chloroplasts evolved from a lineage of cyanobacteria that lived inside early eukaryotic cells is widely accepted across biology.

@alcubz2622

3 жыл бұрын

This is confusing, how come plants produce chloroplasts if it evolved from a bacteria.

@Tralfaz2007

3 жыл бұрын

@@alcubz2622 Chloroplasts (in all photosynthetic plants, algae, and photosynthetic microbial eukaryotes) and mitochondria (in virtually all eukaryotes, organisms with cell nuclei) are both derived from bacterial endosymbionts, that lived inside cells and were co-opted in long term evolution into permanent parts of cells. see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiogenesis

I have watched two of your programs on replacing petrochemicals and have been surprised you have not mentioned algae of which there are hundreds of varieties down to even single-cell chloroplasts. The ones I am interested in are the hydrophytes that not only abstract CO2 but also salt and reproduce most efficiently if there are also nutrients in the water. Hence, their use in sewerage works to absorb nutrients without giving off CO2. My interest as an irrigation consultant in Indonesia is as a possible replacement for low-lying rice lands that are progressively being damaged by salinity due to sea-level rise. Both Indonesia and Vietnam have several million hectares of such lands where growing algae can be turned into biofuel and other commercial products to replace the oil palm used for that purpose resulting in vast deforestation. Algae is about 5 times more productive in producing lipids and can start producing in 6 weeks instead of 6 years it takes to produce oil palm kernels, making it overall 22 times more efficient over a 20-year cycle. Some of the drainage coming through these low-lying areas contains excess fertilisers that will stimulate algal growth. With halophyte algae reducing salinity levels, the saline water can then be used for irrigating other crops that have some saline tolerance, which also includes rice. The ponds can also support low-intensity aquaculture such as catfish, bandeng (loved both loved by Indonesians) as well as prawns. The resulting waste is a highly valuable organic fertiliser that can replace the large quantities of organic fertilisers that Indonesia has to import. Hope you will look into this as algae are starting to be cultivated and used to produce products at competitive rates to oil. Regards David Meigh jdavidmeig@gmail.com

Yes! This sounds like another potential track for turning 'taking carbon out of the atmosphere' into a profitable venture. The sooner the world can start operations like these the better. I cannot wait for the headline "Carbon in our atmosphere and oceans is reducing"

Thank you so much for this story. I can't help but think that the petrochemical industry will not be appreciating this development. How are the producers of this energy going to protect themselves from the well entrenched and dangerous preexisting energy interests?

Fun work you have here

Excellent video

One of the best guys and docs in the world. Respect and big big thanks

Thank you for your work

Good work, keep it up

WOW! Breakthrough indeed!

I find these things so fascinating. I'll be studying molecular biology next year, and I can't wait!

Great video. Much love guys from Zimbabwe

Best news I have ever read in my entire life.. Dr Erb and collaborators deserve the Nobel...and that wouldn't begin to repay the benefit to mankind that this discovery provides. Time to stand up and cheer. Thanks so much for presenting this !! I was excited by high protein algae growing at a high rate in LED light. ( See Pond Ltd in Canada) but this process is 100 TIMES FASTER !! Glucose is the feedstock for yeast which have already been engineered to produce proteins, albumin, casein... Glucose has been the bottleneck for feeding the world. Protein can now be feed by methane. ( Also abundant ) Now all we need is a more efficient Haber process ...

Thanks, good video.

I derived a system like this about 15 years ago. This issue with this is actually the light limitation. Blue green algae can only grow at 1g/l/day. I had derived a mechanism to supply the energy in a different way. It was based on a model that was finding faster versions of Rubisco and using them in bacteria

Fantastic! This is a major breakthrough. With this capability, we will have a way to make food without the hassle of growing plants. Great for space, Moon and Mars colonies.

Thank you!

It's about time. There have been people researching this for ages.

"Little microscopic sacks of joyfulness"...lmao...that was great :)

Very interesting.

To be clear, if this is used to produce combustible hydrocarbons, it is merely carbon neutral. It doesn't remove carbon from the atmosphere, but it doesn't add carbon either. If , OTOH, it is used to produce hydrogen for use in transportation, and pure carbon (for use in materials such as carbon fiber) then it is actually removing carbon from the atmosphere (and sequestering it in useful building materials). Both pathways should be employed of course, but we must continue to expand the hydrogen and isolated carbon pathway to attempt to bring down the levels of atmospheric carbon.

@Islamisthecultofsin

3 жыл бұрын

+Rennie Allen All of the carbon stored i fossil fuels must be put back into the air. The planet will die eventually if we don't do this.

@matejlieskovsky9625

3 жыл бұрын

@@Islamisthecultofsin Umm... source? That carbon was underground for millions of years and the planet was doing fine.

@Islamisthecultofsin

3 жыл бұрын

@@matejlieskovsky9625 Plants have to use CO2 to live. If it gets too low then they die and when they die we die.

Thank you

this is amazing!

Blimey Dave! Can we see the out-takes of when you were learning to pronounce some of that. Great video as ever.

I’m not a scientist but I’m happy to hear about this! Thank you for the information

Sacs of Joyfulness 😍 you got that right

This episode of JHAT reminded me of a BBC Four program, "Botany: A Blooming History", which aired in 2011. In episode 2, they talk about British efforts to replicate photosynthetic processes to develop hydrocarbons. Link: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011wz4q The episode also discussed (beginning at 50:00) how commercial growers in Suffolk were using CO2 to boost crop yields in a massive greenhouse adjacent to an industrial plant which produced steam and CO2 as byproducts; the CO2 was pumped thru plastic tubes to the rows of tomatoes. It would be interesting to see an episode which looks at the latest efforts to re-use CO2 to increase food production. Love JHAT. Thank you for all of your efforts!

Love this

please more like this

Wow love it

Very interesting tech.

Ur awesome, keep it up!

It's fascinating how we can use different technologies and sciences together to develop more efficient plants. I like to imagine a perennial plant with C4 photosynthesis, edible tubers like potatoes, edible leaves, and produces either beans or a grass seed (like corn or wheat) for its seed. Imagine a growing a plant like that in an aeroponics system where it was easy to harvest the tubers sort of like the experiment they did in Chuquillanqui with potatoes which up to 10 times the normal yield. A plant like that would be excellent not only here on Earth, but it would be a great plant to take with us when we start colonizing outer space.

This gives me some hope for our future.

A company that is doing some fundamental work with photosynthesis and producing hydrogen and clean water is SunHydrogen (formerly HyperSolar) might be worth a look.

the science is advancing so far that the concepts of how things work look like magic. Even if its explained its you just cant really grasp it.

We're not doing "better than nature". We *are* nature. We're part of this, an extension of it. We are the way nature expands its possibilities.

Greetings from Marburg! I did not know that this research is done here at the Max-Plank-Institute! 😄

It is aceppted that chloroplasts were once bacteria, that have over geological time become utterly symbiotic with plants - just to add to it all, the power houses of all eukaryotic organisms - mitochondria - were also bacteria that became symbiotic as well :)

Promising.

Love science which helps to improve our environment

Wow real science finally trying to catch up to the science fiction of 70-80 years ago. If only those visionaries had the tech we have now.

The first thought that came to my mind is this - photosynthesis can produce glucose. Other biological systems can turn glucose into ethanol. Therefore it is at least hypothetically possible to turn CO2 and water into ethanol etc. That can be used for aircraft (jet engines can run on almost any flammable liquid or gas). Put them on the roofs of industrial plants etc and you have a source of ethanol. Even if only 10% of aircraft use it, then it will help.

We keep hoping these new technological discoveries will somehow save us... I am not so sure given the absolute voraciousness of human beings to consume absolutely...

@williamgoode9114

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed its almost pathetic trying to solve problems on the back of ever increasing human mass, stock mass,and pollution.

Cyanobacteria with red-shifted chlorophylls and phycobiliproteins capable of harvesting near-infrared-radiation at wavelengths > 700-760 nm could be used to develop the technology to get energy at night from an infrared source or to reclaim energy from anything that emits infrared photons .

@jimurrata6785

3 жыл бұрын

Even better, it would be 'harvesting' heat, and maybe put a dent in global warming. The amount of insolation (globally) is awe inspiring. No, I don't have a figure, but when you think half this planet is constantly exposed to a gigantic hydrogen bomb it seems we could do better at using the whole of that spectrum that reaches the surface.

Great News!! It grows 100 times faster than a plant. This is basically a carbon offset whether it is ever used to make products or fuel. I can see huge pools/lakes of these fast-growing chloroplasts to remove carbon from the atmosphere. My question: Can this chloroplast get into the environment and become an invasive species?

Speeding up the photosynthetic process would also enable food to grow faster, which would enable people to depend less on purchased food, which would enable people to depend less on obtaining money for those purchases, which would enable people to leave jobs and/or work fewer hours at them.

As a chemical engineer, I have dreamed for decades of the possibility of creating an artificial photosynthesis process. It's an absolute game changer. It would allow us to capture sunlight and use it as a direct replacement for fossil fuels without the need for wind turbines, solar panels, or battery arrays. You could just fill the tank on your car as you do now.

Thanks for another great video! This channel is wonderful. And speaking of wonderful, artificial photosynthesis sounds... mind blowing, if they can get it to work on an industrial scale. But if I'm understanding the video correctly, the biologists are manufacturing these droplets by the thousands in a lab. This isn't a case of making new and improved plants, but rather plant-like microscopic machines.

Interesting stuff, and good job on pronouncing those long terms. I was wondering how long it will be before these artificial chloroplasts will have a noticeable impact on keeping the black stuff in the ground? What is the timeline to mass production and an observed impact on CO2 reduction for example?

@MrZussow

3 жыл бұрын

At current time its got a long way to go before commercialisation without far more breakthroughs. it is frankly too slow and on a very low scale at the moment.

@williamgoode9114

3 жыл бұрын

Slow but sure, nature was doing a fine job balancing respiration with photosynthesis, till we stole the water and the forests were levelled.

@JustHaveaThink

3 жыл бұрын

Hi David. It's only at lab stage so far, so several years I suspect. Although it seems like all these workable technologies are suddenly gaining great interest in the inverstment world - a bit like the dot com boom at the turn of the century (except these things actually create something real and do somehting useful!)

A superb quality presentation. Keep up the good work. Science and engineering will find solutions if they are given time, backing and resources to do so. Some governance and oversight doesn't hurt though.

Hello David, is there any opportunity for one of your follow-up videos on this topic? I would love to think so

Great video! But how much co2 is generated to make these new bio systems? I certainly think they hold a lot of promise and would love to see a production level facility in the next 10 -12 years.

Another great video which gives hope for us walking monkeys and other mammales will survival. The end is NOT nigh and there is not only one 'solution' to our environmental problems. The weird science on the 1990s TV Show 'Red Dwarf' may not be so weird after all.

Now I'm going to explain to you some earth shattering science using my very calm English accent, with a bit of dry British humor thrown in.

Another great video presentation on a very encouraging scientific development. Nevertheless, I can't help but think, it will take a lot more to avert extinction in the relatively near term.

@JustHaveaThink

3 жыл бұрын

Very true Tim. This is only one of many, many things we need to get very busy on very quickly.

Great work, mate. Are you familiar with the Millenial Project by Marshall Savage? Astounding vision, still relevant after a few decades.

Another fascinating video and a message of hope!. How long will this research take before it can be used in anger ? Years or decades?

@JustHaveaThink

3 жыл бұрын

Hi James. I think it's probably years. But I would say that Wall Street investors are quickly realising that these technologoes are the investment opportunities of the future. The thought of rampant capitalism driving climate progress is slightly distasteful, but the reality is that it's probably the best way to get these things up and running quickly. If we can cause a dotcom style stampede of money into research and development then all well and good.

@jamesgunn6233

3 жыл бұрын

@@JustHaveaThink I'd much rather the capitalists do it, it will be quicker and so much more quickly rolled out ! Have we got time to wait for the government to do it ?🙂

Great walkthrough of this technology How about the Power to X technology? Thanks for sharing 👍😀

I like the way this gentleman goes IMMEDIATELY into his presentation without an introduction advertising his website or anything like that. He also doesn’t play any annoying, loud, Or inappropriate background music. Unfortunately, at 1:23, he slips back into old ways.

The most exciting application for me is the Materials Engineering part. Since, carbon fiber, for example is a great material, maybe some derivative can be produced simply form light and carbon in the atmosphere.

6:05 Your spelling was 👌

I wonder how nature will react when these artificial chloroplasts find their way into the environment. Impacts will be both good and bad I suspect, regardless it will be out of our control.

at 5:00 min. those hairs may be the phased ray antennas that convert sun rays to electric energy very efficient part,this was patented in 1986 16 anstrons long and 4 wide 60% eff.

Woooooooooooooohooooooooooooooo 🥳🎊🎉

There's something about Tobias Erb, that reminds me of Robin Williams. And Bono. There. That's how much biochemistry I understand!

Disconnecting the petrochemical industry from the crude oil would be an awesome achievement. We'd need all those factories anyway to process the results into final products, so why not reuse them?