Trees' Leaves Grow At a Cool 70° All Over the World

biogeochick writes "Ever turn on the air conditioner on a hot day? How about a heater when it gets cold? OK, so we all know that humans act to keep themselves cool, but what about trees? A recent article on tree core isotopic evidence has shown that trees from tropical to boreal forests all grow at 70 degrees. The study, published in Nature by some fantastic researchers (so one of them is my adviser, so sue me) and covered by NPR on All Things Considered, has shed some light on the convergent temperature at which trees perform photosynthesis." Update: 06/19 21:31 GMT by T : I give, I give -- that's 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Get a real unit.

[Anonymous Coward]

That's insane, that's so hot we'd burn our fingers if we touched the trees?!

Re:Shameless karma whore

[Actually, I do RTFA]

That's 21C for anyone living in the 21st century.

That's 294.15K for anyone who has (somewhat at least) overcome an infantile obsession with water.

Re:Shameless karma whore

[halivar]

Celsius is based on water temperature, and Fahrenheit is based on alcohol temperature. Ergo, Fahrenheit is WAY better than Celsius. QED.

Re:Get a real unit.

[dougmc]

No, 70 degrees is too cold!

Hell, there have been some superconductors found that work at 70 degrees!
Perhaps rather than `get a real unit', just give a unit, real or not.

Re:Shameless karma whore

[Atzanteol]

And 529.67 rankine for those of us who are simply better looking.

But seriously, when did Fahrenheit stop working?

Re:Shameless karma whore

[RoverDaddy]

Considering how much of my body happens to be water, I don't consider it an infantile obsession. Some people have an infantile obsession with making water, but that's something different.

Re:Get a real unit.

[ConceptJunkie]

No, 70 degrees is about four-fifths of a right angle.

I just hope someone doesn't come around and rotate my trees, because they might die!

Son of shameless karma whore

[SputnikPanic]

The green is reflected. Red and blue are absorbed. Why plants are green [msu.edu]

Re:Shameless karma whore

[Bandman]

And in somewhat less than 10 comments, this has become a pee thread.

Nice job. /sigh

Re:Shameless karma whore

[johannesg]

But seriously, when did Fahrenheit stop working?

He passed away in 1736. It is likely that he stopped working some time before that point, although we cannot be sure that he didn't die at his desk.

Re:Get a real unit.

[dougmc]

touche!

And in a similar vein, I thought I was only six degrees away from Kevin Bacon? Or was that Paris Hilton? Either way, *70* degrees seems very excessive!

It took me 10 years of school to get two degrees ... 70 would take ... a long time.

And I grow...

[sidnelson13]

... when placed into moist locations. Give me five!

Ok, no good comes from watching Scrubs.

Re:Shameless karma whore

[mordenkhai]

I believe he is referring to the fact that alcohol was used, in large quantities, by the researchers while coming up with the system. In that regard it is heavily based on alcohol, and Cheetos too if memory serves, but there is again no Wiki reference.

Re:Shameless karma whore

[Xaroth]

My car gets 40 rods to the hogshead, and that's the way I likes it!

Re:Shameless karma whore

[Al Al Cool J]

And it's 1.22 radians, for anyone who thought "a cool 70 degrees" meant a rakish angle.

Re:Diploma mills

[saskboy]

Don't use that M-word around trees. They'll get very nervous hearing that!

Re:Shameless karma whore

[TheBig1]

African or European?

Re:Get a real unit.

[maxume]

Are you going to insist me in the face if I keep using Fahrenheit?

Re:Shameless karma whore

[Myrddin Wyllt]

In the immortal words of the sea-captain in Blackadder:

"Opinion is divided on the subject - I say it is; everyone else says it isn't."

(OK, not everyone, Burma and Libya are still holding out as well)

Re:Get a real unit.

[Anonymous Coward]

My trees won't agree to that. They have 70 degree black belt. Rotate them at your own risk.

Re:Shameless karma whore

[sYkSh0n3]

ha, even my truck gets 400,000 rods to the hogshead.

Actually that's the unit used car dealers should use.

"Oh you definitely want this new hummer, it gets 262,080 rods per hogshead."

ok, now i'm going home, i just wasted 5 minutes converting mpg's to rph's for no reason what-so-ever.

Mod parent up

[Anonymous Coward]

I grow pot professionally. I know these things. And so does the parent poster.

Re:Shameless karma whore

[zeromorph]

...Celsius has been the standard for science and, well, everywhere except the US, for a long time...

You forgot ... Belize [hydromet.gov.bz]!

Re:Get a real unit.

[Lars T.]

And I thought this thread would wander off into a Global Warming flame-fest - instead you open the door to a Evolution thread.

Re:Get a real unit.

[PaganRitual]

Never mind rotation, a tree at 70 degrees is in great danger of falling over.

Not that anyone would hear it, mind you.

Re:Get a real unit.

[Anonymous Coward]

I think it's quite clear what degrees was referring to...the only problem was they didn't indicate whether it was North, South, East or West, so you can't tell whether they're talking about latitude or longitude. Either way, I think they're saying they've located the last grouping of trees left on the planet.

With exciting news like this, we may yet slow the pace of global climate change!

Re:Shameless karma whore

[Z34107]

Serves the rest of the world for ignoring furlongs per fortnight.

Re:Shameless karma whore

[Opportunist]

It's all fun and game until one loses the probe [cnn.com] because you can't agree what unit to use.

70 degrees⦠north or south?

[Anonymous Coward]

⦠and for the record there are virtually no trees at 70 dregrees, north or south, doing much of anything whatsoever!

US is officially metric

[EmbeddedJanitor]

It's just the transition time is taking a bit longer than expected.

Re:Shameless karma whore

[Bill, Shooter of Bul]

Celsius used in science. News at 11. Also, a special report on the water falling problem: Is the sky leaking or is God crying?

Re:Shameless karma whore

[schon]

GP must drive a Hummer

Either that, or you need to brush up on your pop culture [snpp.com] references. :)

Re:Get a real unit.

[Profane MuthaFucka]

70 degrees? That's a smart fucking tree.

Re:Or in Celsius

[Clandestine_Blaze]

I use leaves you insensitive clod!

(Hey, this joke is actually on-topic! :D)

Re:Shameless karma whore

[4D6963]

Actually, Earth's circumference was measured first, and the metre based on the result.

Well of course, what else do you suggest I was claiming? That the metre was defined first, that it was decided that the Earth's circumference would be 40,000,000 metres and that they would squeeze the planet so that it would fit?

Re:Get a real unit.

[PaganRitual]

Trees do have quite a long lifespan you know, much longer than humans.

A tree in general has more than enough time time in its life to :

- heat up to 70C and burn all its leaves off,

- cool down to 70F and grow them all back again,

- complete 70 various degrees ranging from "Bachelor of the justification of stealing someone elses wifi" all the way to "Masters in the creation of piss-poor wifi analogies", during which time it likely met a lot of /.ers

- run out of lame 70 degrees jokes to make because after the three obvious ones everyone starting converting 70 to every other fucking useless unit under the sun

shortly before one distasterous day, leaning over to a 70 degree angle to shit in the woods before accidentally but silently falling down to it's death, at which point you can count the rings to show that oh wow I can't believe you read this far I am so fucking bored.

Re:Shameless karma whore

[cjb658]

We use the metric system in the US, sometimes [wired.com].

Re:Shameless karma whore

[cjb658]

Actually that's the unit used car dealers should use.

Also condom manufacturers.

Re:Get a real unit.

[enoz]

There are people that still do orienteering in this day and age? Wow, I thought they were all doing geo(c)hashing now.

Re:Get a real unit.

[Ungrounded Lightning]

I thought I was only six degrees away from Kevin Bacon?

I thought it was Kelvin bakin'.

Re:Get a real unit.

[perbert]

Not if there's a farmer with a shotgun! [slashdot.org]

Re:Shameless karma whore

[Llanfairpwllgwyngyll]

You know, even a ship does better than that I think, that is about 10 feet per gallon.

I run my ship on wood from old ships. I get 10 miles per *galleon* ;-)

obligatory...

[chemisus]

I for one, welcome our new 70 degree rotated, 70 degrees temperature, 70 degrees educated, located somewhere between 70 degrees east and 6 degrees from kevin bacon * [imdb.com], tree overlords.

* theres bound to be a tree somewhere in that movie...

Re:Shameless karma whore

[Fred_A]

In the rest of the world, Fahrenheit is about as commonly used as the cubit.

I had a companion cubit, but I tossed it into the fire. :(

Re:Shameless karma whore

[Jesus_666]

In 451.