Re: Colors of alien plants -- Scientific American

In article <fu7psu$56j$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
 mkkuhner@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 (Mary K. Kuhner) wrote:

> In article <fstphu$1l9$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
> Eivind Kjorstad  <eivindorama@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> 
> >Typical vegetation convert at best 1% of the incoming photons to usable

> >energy. This compares pretty poorly with even todays crude solar-cells 
> >which can easily do 10% and we've got designs that in principle should 
> >be able to go to 30-50% (depending on your level of optimism)
> 
> Drop a 10% plant into our 1% biosphere and it should provide lots of
> story potential--kudzu to the nth power....

That's part of the point of the grey goo scenarios that nanotech people 
worry about.

-- 
 http://www.daviddfriedman.com/
http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/
 Author of _Harald_, a fantasy without magic.
 Published by Baen, paperback in bookstores now