We think of oxygen as life, sustenance, a literal breath of fresh air. But it’s actually a very reactive element. Anyone who’s burned a log has witnessed this firsthand. So why do so many life-forms breathe oxygen?
There are probably thousands of kinds of metabolisms, or chemical processes that maintain life, said Donald Canfield, a geobiologist at the University of Southern Denmark, but “virtually all eukaryotes” (life-forms whose cells contain a nucleus) and a vast array of prokaryotes (life-forms that lack a nucleus), use oxygen.
Canfield is talking primarily about heterotrophs — organisms, including humans, that get their nutrients and energy by consuming other organic matter. Not all organisms do this exclusively. For example, “plants get their carbon from CO2 in the air,” said Dan Mills, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Munich.
“Writer Fuel” is a series of cool real-world stories that might inspire your little writer heart. Check out our Writer Fuel page on the LimFic blog for more inspiration.
