Light and Life Beyond Photosynthesis | Lecture by Bob Fosbury, Friday 13th October 2023, Queen Square, Bath. After two centuries of study scientists now understand how photosynthesis produces food from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide, and releases oxygen. In this lecture Bob Fosbury shows how light performs other important functions which enable life, including humans, to thrive. In particular he explores how NIR (near infrared) light is reflected by vegetation as strongly as by freshly fallen snow yet penetrates deeply into living bodies, benefitting the metabolism which releases the energy for life. Robert Fosbury is currently an emeritus astronomer at the European Southern Observatory and an honorary professor at the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London.

This was part of a series of talks on the Bath Preservation Trust / Herschel Museum of Astronomy’s theme Conserving the Planet. The other three talks were on Friday 8 September, Lights & the insect apocalypse / The Right Light at Night , Friday 3 November, A Cluttered & Noisy Sky and Friday 1 December, Solutions to Space Debris