h a l f b a k e r yI like this idea, only I think it should be run by the government.
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Cloud Lilies
Sequester carbon, shade the earth & reflect sunlight, all at the same time. | |
Hybridized, selectively bred & genetically engineered fast
growing Water
Lilies with white flowers partnered with hydrogen
producing
bacteria in their flotation nodules.
They float at altitude drawing moisture from air with air
roots.
Reflect sunlight with their flowers.
Shade the
earth with their bulk.
Sequester carbon with their growth.
Three birds, one stone.
When they die so too will the bacteria (eventually) & the
biomass falls to earth,
Much of this will end up deep in the
ocean where anyone so inclined can't burn it & release the
carbon again, not too easily anyway.
The floatation nodules are going to need to be really big &
we'll want to make sure the flowers don't revert to
another
colour after they're released to the wild.
When the jobs done & we want to clear the sky just
set
fire to them & watch the pretty flames, all that hydrogen
should make a great
show to celebrate with.
[If you don't like water lilies for some reason we
can use
another plant of course]
We can't see any
potential
issues with any of this, honest.
This idea developed a bit further.
Saltwater_20Water_20Lilies
Saltwater Water Lilies [Skewed, Mar 29 2021]
How to Grow Water Lilies In a Pond or On Your Patio
https://www.bhg.com...owing-water-lilies/
[Voice, Mar 30 2021]
Water Lilies: Hardy and Tropical Water Lilies for Ponds
https://www.gardenf...opical-hardy-ponds/
[Voice, Mar 30 2021]
How do water lilies obtain nutrients from soil?
https://www.quora.c...nutrients-from-soil
[Voice, Mar 30 2021]
The Characteristics of a Water Lily
https://www.hunker....ics-of-a-water-lily
[Voice, Mar 30 2021]
Nymphaeaceae is a family of flowering plants, commonly called water lilies.
https://en.wikipedi...g/wiki/Nymphaeaceae
[Voice, Mar 30 2021]
Greensleeves
https://www.youtube...watch?v=bSjfkwvOOAM
[Skewed, Mar 30 2021]
[link]
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I can chip in like... fifty bucks to get the ball rolling. |
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They need more than water and air to live and reproduce. I guess we can try and get them to pump phosphate- potassium-chlorate- and whatever other mineral-laden stuff they need in the form of sap but that's a huge amount of energy they'll be needing. They'll not only need huge (heavy) leaves but also the ability to power molecular pumps, segmentation, the ability to drop roots a very long way, and not only strong (heavy) roots but sufficiently hardy ones that they'll become a real invasion. Better get started on those salt water adaptations too -- water lilies can't survive the cold as they are. |
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edit: some water lillies can survive the cold as long as the reproductive systems don't freeze. |
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//deep in the ocean where anyone so inclined can't burn it & release the carbon again, not too easily anyway.// |
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Bacteria will release the carbon instead, often releasing it in other forms like methane. |
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//Bacteria will release the carbon instead// |
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Not all of it, or coal & oil wouldn't exist. |
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Most coal and oil happened, as I understand it, when forests were buried and therefore without oxygen. |
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So, like at the bottom of the ocean then? |
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//need huge (heavy) leaves// |
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The flotation nodules are green you'll note, that's
a pretty big photosynthesis area right there. |
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//ability to drop roots a very long way// |
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Why, we already gave them air roots, OK they may be a bit
nutrient deprived but there's plenty of water floating
around
up there, it's called clouds. |
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We're still working on getting
them to accept a little gene flow from pitcher plants to
help make up the nutrient deficit, the boys in the lab tell
me any day now. |
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Those contain volume for hydrogen? Not clouds, floating leaves. |
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//like at the bottom of the ocean then?// |
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Close enough, if the remains ever get there. Starting out lighter than air that seems unlikely to me. |
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//Those contain volume for hydrogen? Not clouds, floating
leaves// |
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Whatever they contain (yes it's hydrogen) is irrelevant to the
fact that they're exterior is a green photosynthesizing surface
so I must be missing your point. |
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Those big floating leaves are lighter than water, but I didn't think they also contained significant amounts of gas. I note the leaves float like boats. |
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edit: at least they look like they do. But according to the internet they're lighter than water. |
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//Starting out lighter than air that seems unlikely to me// |
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Hydrogen is lighter than air, they aren't, hydrogen has this
tendency to escape any envelope over time (that's why you
need the bacteria to constantly replace it), if they die the
symbiotic bacteria dies, no new hydrogen, they'll sink
(eventually), no problems there. |
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//Those big floating leaves are lighter than water//
//according to the internet they're lighter than water// |
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Um no that's not how it works, they have these things called
"flotation nodules", like little blow up floats for
plants, go away & read a bit more, I'll still be
here when you get back ;p |
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So what you're saying is the leaves currently do not store gas. So those are the big heavy leaves I was talking about. |
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I already looked for that and couldn't find anything. A second search also yielded no result. |
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The bulbous bit at the base of their leaves is hollow & air
filled so keeps them afloat like water wings on a toddler. |
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We're making the bulbous bits bigger, it's walls thinner, the
rest of the plant smaller & filling it (the bulbous bit) with
hydrogen. |
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Go & look up water lilies & other floating water plants,
when you've figured out how they float in water you should
be able to
see how this works. |
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If you still can't go & read up on hydrogen balloons. |
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If you still can't then, I can't help you. |
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//I already looked for that// |
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Also, try saving some weight by dropping the first 'a' of
"floatation" from your search. Does wonders, I found. |
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Eek! my spelling sucks .. corrected. |
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Hum, no my spelling isn't wrong there (for once). |
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Young
people started
spelling it wrong a while back & now both spellings are
considered acceptable, I'll leave the edit though. |
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[Carefully writes "I already told you in the idea!" in large
capital letters on a piece of card] |
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[Waits expectantly for 'someone' to query how the
hydrogen gets into the nodules] |
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But how does the hydrogen get into the nodules? |
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[Sits card with the words written on it in front of
camera obscuring all bar the words] |
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[Sound of scraping chair emanates from behind card] |
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[Greensleeves starts playing] |
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//genetically engineered// Right. |
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[Greensleeves stops playing] |
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Yes & no, lots of bacteria produce hydrogen as a waste
product, we just have to coax one of them into a symbiotic
partnership with the plant, so yes, twice over, but no, not
directly. |
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Okay, sixty five bucks and not a penny more. |
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SOLD! to the man with the sub standard fast food commodity. |
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Just leave it in an unmarked envelope in the usual place,
umm, what was it you were buying again? |
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"Why are water lilies dangerous? |
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They can cause severe diarrhoea, convulsions, acute
kidney failure and even death. “What makes them
particularly dangerous is that all parts of the plant
are toxic and even small ingestions, such as two or
three leaves or petals, or water from a vase
containing lilies, can be potentially fatal." |
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Poisoning the world from the clouds. 8th would be
proud. |
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A wispy organic sky floss with abstract aircraft brushstrokes in translucent green shimmer. |
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//all parts of the plant are toxic// |
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Well, we didn't want anything eating them did we, that sort
of
spoils the carbon sequestration element of the plan. |
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We could have used something edible instead of course, but
then
the idea becomes "Mana From The Sky" & vested interests
wouldn't like that, they'd start moaning about people
'getting stuff for free', which could have caused some
funding
issues (they have all the money after all), so naturally, we
decided
against it. |
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Besides, killing off all the cattle forces us to switch to a
more plant based diet .. & we wanted the vegetarian vote. |
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That was pretty damn poetic. |
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We just have to visit the right planet. |
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Or the right plant, it's a much shorter journey. |
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The wrong plant on the wrong planet is an even shorter journey. |
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OK that one it is then, they tell me time is short, have you got
directions? |
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We disagree with this fixation by some on the perceived
disadvantages of water lilies, culling some of that methane
belching biomass could only be another advantage, we
know
that's true because the vegans have told
us so, but
if your
face is really set against them (you damn floral racists
you!)
then it
doesn't
have to be water
lilies, we can always use other plants. |
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We thought
that was obvious. |
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There, I've edited it in for you, happy
now? |
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The water lilies will
be so
disappointed. |
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Ah, this is why the Petunias thought, 'Oh no, not again' . |
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Why? what did we ever do to the petunias before? this is a
gross
slander, we've never laid a finger on them. |
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Is Twitter about to go off with a succession of angry petunias
making allegations against [skewed] stretching back twenty
years? |
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That's a relief. Just checking. |
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