So… Why Are Plants Green and Not Black?

Why aren’t plants red? Or blue? What happened millions of years ago that made green the chosen color?

Well, a few very smart people have a couple ideas…

Source: Pixabay

One of our favorite YouTube channels, Physics Girl, raises the great question: why aren’t plants black? If black is the presence of all colors and can absorb the most energy for the plant, why wouldn’t this be the color of choice for our leafy friends? Why are plants green?

She lets us in on a few of the great possibilities in the following video!

If we’re being honest, I’m still left a bit confused. But that may be one of the reasons our world is amazing–a lot of it still remains a mystery to us. We don’t have all the answers, and in the pursuit of knowledge, we make fascinating discoveries that lead to innovations and breakthroughs that push us all forward.

Our ability to ask seemingly innocuous questions like, “Why aren’t plants black?” is one of our greatest gifts and most powerful driving forces.

In the spirit of curiosity taking us to new places to discover unusual facts about our world, here are a couple of cool articles we’ve featured on how we actually perceive color and what these colors mean around the world. Give them a look! (The second one includes that video from the great Physics Girl!)

Stay open to new possibilities!

• Sam

“No problem can be solved by the same level of consciousness that created it” – Albert Einstein