Still wondering why leaves are green and not purple or even black? CHLOROPHYLL! It's how leaves work. CREDITS ********* Created by Henry Reich, with Alex Reich, Peter Reich, Rose Eveleth, Emily Elert, and John Guittar. Music by Nathaniel Schroeder http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder Thanks to ScienceAlert for support - http://www.sciencealert.com/ SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH ************************** If you like what we do, you can help us!: - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Our merch: null - Our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Share this video with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) OUR LINKS ************ Youtube | null TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@minuteearth Twitter | https://twitter.com/MinuteEarth Instagram | https://instagram.com/minute_earth Facebook | https://facebook.com/Minuteearth Website | https://minuteearth.com/ Apple Podcasts| https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minuteearth/id649211176 REFERENCES ************** Papers referred to in the making of this video: Blankenship, Robert E. 2010. Early evolution of photosynthesis. Plant physiology 154(2): 434-438. http://www.plantphysiology.org/content/154/2/434.full.pdf+html Hohmann-Marriott, M. F., & Blankenship, R. E. 2011. Evolution of photosynthesis. Annual review of plant biology 62: 515-548. http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-arplant-042110-103811 Raven, J. A. 2009. Functional evolution of photochemical energy transformations in oxygen-producing organisms. Functional Plant Biology 36(6): 505-515. http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=FP09087.pdf