Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

That article gives off a vibe of complete nonsense.


I'll add to that. Even if humans could convert sunlight into energy as well as plants (they can't), we would only be able to generate about 15 kCal/hour. https://hplusbiopolitics.wordpress.com/2008/08/12/photosynth... . That's well less than 1/10th of what we need just for basic metabolism.

Of course, we aren't covered with chloroplasts, not even close. So we're talking at best a teeny-tiny amount of what we need to live. There's very little reason for evolution to conserve these pathways[0]. Especially since we know that people can survive and be healthy on a meat-only diet in the arctic, where they are covered in clothes. This includes western Europeans who have not had any genetic adaptations for that climate or diet.

[0] The photosynthetic systems must not be digested, must be transported through the blood to the whole body, make it through the cell walls to get to the mitochondria, be maintained at the right concentration, with some way to excrete the waste products.


Relevant [what if] xkcd: "Green Cows" https://what-if.xkcd.com/17/ It's a similar analysis, but it uses cows instead of humans.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: