Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s harder to remove the moss from high up in the tree and there are more risks in doing so. I was never clear on how prevalent this shittery was.
Who wants moss!? Is it luxury moss?
Yes, for terrariums
Giant trees have no trouble pumping water to top branches: new research
61–70 of 134 posts
Re: Giant trees have no trouble pumping water to top branches: new research
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
>if the tree were in a closed system with no solar input ... that would be the least of the tree's problems.
This line of reasoning has always cracked me up. The internal dialog acidentally out loud at the least flattering moment. I believe the correct response to be: The tree is a perpetual motion machine hooked up directly to the wheelworks of nature! It PUMPS 500 liters per day usibg Wind, solar, capilar action and evaporation! How do i charge my car with this?
Well, if you chop it down and burn it to boil water, then Use it to spin up a turbine…
Re: Giant trees have no trouble pumping water to top branches: new research
#63Re: Giant trees have no trouble pumping water to top branches: new research
#64Folks still sleeping on structured water. While admittedly contested and only reproduced by a few labs outside Gerald Pollack's at University of Washington, there is a solid case that it could play a role in transporting water and sap to the tops of trees. At least, it's involved in the motion induced in hydrophilic tubes when there is sufficient ambient radiant energy (uv/infrared). Relevant papers: "Exclusion-zone…
I regretably didnt save it but there was a truly hilarious topic on usenet sci.physics long long ago. If we've gathered enough evidence against something or if the thing goes against accepted consensus you are forbidden from doing further research and new evidence is no longer allowed. The topic then invited others to list such topics. The list grew to hundreds of entries and people couldnt resist getting angry readi…
Be careful with that dismissal. The concept of an exclusion zone itself appears to be legitimate. More generally, there's lots of strange and surprising effects that crop up on the molecular level at interfaces in solution. However not all mechanistic explanations for such behavior are shall we say "widely accepted".
And then there's homeopathy which is a largely unrelated and entirely nonsensical thing.
Re: Giant trees have no trouble pumping water to top branches: new research
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
That analysis only applies to a single discreet pump. A line of pumps in series does not suffer from that problem and that is roughly what a biological system would be expected to consist of.
There are no pumps in a tree, in series or not. There’s nothing between the roots and leaves that actively drives water upward in any way. The xylem is literally dead tissue.
Please notice that the comment I was responding to there made claims of physical infeasibility that I was responding to. I was not expressing any claims regarding actual concrete trees that you could go and visit.
More generally you seem to be dismissing out of hand the primary topic of discussion which is neither constructive nor enlightening.
Re: Giant trees have no trouble pumping water to top branches: new research
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree it doesn't pass the sniff test (where are the 500 meter trees in the rainforests?) but I think it would make an excellent goal for molecularbiological and genetic engineering. We (our civilization) need to become much more skilled at that before we start editing the human germline, and we will inevitably want to edit the human germline eventually (or rather we are currently exhibiting great restraint in not d…
There are obviously other factors limiting tree growth, like compressive strength.
Which would also serve as reasonable challenges for genetic and molecularbiological engineering so ... what's your point?
Or do you mean to suggest that the failure of any accepted tree height records to surpass the maximum capillary distance can be explained by some other factor? (Based on your other comment it seems safe to assume that isn't what you meant but anyhow.) That seems far too convenient given that the observed cutoff is within the expected range.
Re: Giant trees have no trouble pumping water to top branches: new research
#67This goes against all previous research/measurements for actually tall trees (looks like they only considered up to 80m) and the fact that there are exactly zeros trees in the world taller than 130 meters [1]. Wide capillaries at the base, like stated in the article, don't seem to be related. [1] https://www.sfgate.com/science/article/REDWOODS-How-tall-can...
I agree it doesn't pass the sniff test (where are the 500 meter trees in the rainforests?) but I think it would make an excellent goal for molecularbiological and genetic engineering. We (our civilization) need to become much more skilled at that before we start editing the human germline, and we will inevitably want to edit the human germline eventually (or rather we are currently exhibiting great restraint in not d…
Sounds cool but for such experimentation you would want relatively fast experimental iterations to get anywhere, and this would take literal ages. You can play around with growth speed of course but that’s a different question and might be in some ways opposed to achieving height.
Re: Giant trees have no trouble pumping water to top branches: new research
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree it doesn't pass the sniff test (where are the 500 meter trees in the rainforests?) but I think it would make an excellent goal for molecularbiological and genetic engineering. We (our civilization) need to become much more skilled at that before we start editing the human germline, and we will inevitably want to edit the human germline eventually (or rather we are currently exhibiting great restraint in not d…
Sounds cool but for such experimentation you would want relatively fast experimental iterations to get anywhere, and this would take literal ages. You can play around with growth speed of course but that’s a different question and might be in some ways opposed to achieving height.
I don't think so. You don't have to reach the height limit just to iteratively develop the initial implementation of the pump system. A system that actively moves water would push it out the top so you've got an observable phenomenon to work with.
Re: Giant trees have no trouble pumping water to top branches: new research
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree it doesn't pass the sniff test (where are the 500 meter trees in the rainforests?) but I think it would make an excellent goal for molecularbiological and genetic engineering. We (our civilization) need to become much more skilled at that before we start editing the human germline, and we will inevitably want to edit the human germline eventually (or rather we are currently exhibiting great restraint in not d…
There are obviously other factors limiting tree growth, like compressive strength.
I seem to recall for some long-ago course that the 8,000m peaks are up around the compresssive limit so yoou couldn't really have a taller mountain.
Re: Giant trees have no trouble pumping water to top branches: new research
#70I’m glad to find the trees are doing well, even the big ones, that managed to grow big... ???