Nature manages to fascinate us with everything it throws at us. Plants take in carbon dioxide, convert it into oxygen and release it back into the atmosphere. This process is usually invisible to the eye, but scientists have managed to capture it. Watching a plant breathe in real time is both fascinating and a little creepy.
This is how plants breathe
In a video shared on Reddit that quickly went viral, we get a close-up view of a plant’s stomata. Stomata are small openings on the underside of leaves that allow the plant to take in carbon dioxide and oxygen. Incidentally, this video appeared in a scientific paper published in 2022, only now it has gone viral.
The video shows how plants breathe in gases such as carbon dioxide. These gases help the plant create the nutrients it needs to survive through photosynthesis, a process that releases oxygen as a by-product. The video shows the first stage of this process.
The video has attracted a great deal of attention on social media, with users sharing humorous comments and sharing how impressive it is to watch plants breathing closely. It’s a great reminder of how amazing nature can be when we really observe it and take a closer look at how it works.
But the way a small plant mouth opens and closes as it takes in gases looks a little eerie. This observation taught us a lot about how plants breathe and revealed that not all stomata can be open all the time, because if they were, the plant would dry up.
So plants have to constantly open and close their little mouths, just as we open and close our mouths to prevent them from drying out. This cycle is critical for the survival of plants and this video makes us realize once again how complex and wonderful nature is.
What do you think? Please share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
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