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Fascinating.
"The study shows that in some of the coldest, darkest places on Earth, life blooms with the barest quantum of light. “At least some phytoplankton, under some conditions, may be able to do some very useful things at very low light,” said Douglas Campbell (opens a new tab), a specialist in aquatic photosynthesis at Mount Allison University in Canada, who was not involved in the study. “It’s important work.”"
https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-does-life-happen-when-theres-barely-any-light-20250129/
@sohkamyung The use of 'micromoles' as a measure of light is something I hadn't come across before - apparently it's common but feels weird to me!
@penguin42 Ah, apparently it's a measurement of the number of photons.
[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthetically_active_radiation#Units ]: "[P]hotosynthesis is a quantum process and the chemical reactions of photosynthesis are more dependent on the number of photons than the energy contained in the photons. Therefore, plant biologists often quantify PAR [Photosynthetically active radiation] using the number of photons in the 400-700 nm range received by a surface for a specified amount of time [...]"
