“Photosynthesis … didn’t change when humans began to domesticate plants, ten thousand years ago, or, later, when they figured out how to irrigate, fertilize, and, finally, hybridize them. It always worked well enough to power the planet—that is, until now.” Now, scientists want to take one of nature’s most vital mechanisms and make it just a little bit better. Elizabeth Kolbert in The New Yorker: Creating a Better Leaf: Could tinkering with photosynthesis prevent a global food crisis? Can science really force photosynthesis to turn over a new leaf? “Surely, they observed, if there were a way to improve photosynthesis that was truly viable, and not just theoretical, then, at some point during the past several hundred million years, plants would have hit upon it.”

+ “Coral reefs, often called the rainforests of the sea, provide food for humans and marine animals, shoreline protection for coastal communities, jobs for tourist economies and even medicine to treat illnesses such as cancer, arthritis and Alzheimers disease.” NPR: Darwin in a lab: Coral evolution tweaked for global warming. (It’s interesting. Instead of changing our dirty habits that are destroying Earth, we’re trying to force Earth to adapt to our dirty habits.)