Plants, through photosynthesis, take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen as a byproduct

  • NAXLAB@lemmy.world
    7·
    1 year ago

    Breathing farts is a funny idea, but the product of plants’ respiration is not at all comparable to farts. It’s comparable to breath

    • LukeMedia@lemmy.world
      5·
      1 year ago

      Fairly minor correction, but photosynthesis is essentially the opposite of cellular respiration. Plants do respirate and release CO2, but their photosynthesis more than offsets their respiration.

      • NAXLAB@lemmy.world
        2·
        1 year ago

        I see! I didn’t know respiration only referred to what animals do. I figured they were both two sides of the same coin

  • DreamButt@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    1 year ago

    Good job OP you got the bio nerds arguing the philosophical and scientific definitions of “fart.” You can retire now

    • Candelestine@lemmy.worldEnglish
      30·
      1 year ago

      It’s exhalations really. Their BO would result mostly from bacteria that live on their surface. You exhale your metabolic byproduct of CO2, they exhale their O2. Just, instead of one centralized set of “lungs”, their respiratory system is decentralized through the structure, kinda like a lobsters “brain” is. Kinda.

      • Hugucinogens@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        7·
        1 year ago

        Naw, the farts are actually the best comparison.

        Plants “breathe” normally too, taking in oxygen, and producing CO2. Separately, they also take on CO2 and sunlight, and produce “food” and expel oxygen.

        Since it’s a by-product of their “eating”… It really is a fart, isn’t it?

        • Candelestine@lemmy.worldEnglish
          7·
          1 year ago

          The main thing for me is that the contents of flatulence and BO were not made by the animal themselves. They were made by symbiotic bacteria.

          Regarding plants taking in O2 and expelling CO2, to my knowledge this only happens at night, and the plant is not actually using the O2. It’s just concentrations naturally equalizing while it waits for the sun to come back. Do some plants actually have a use for O2? That’s out of my wheelhouse.

          Anyways, I can see the flatulence argument, since both are a result of a “feeding” behavior, but there’s not a lot else in common.