Diatoms are delightful. And without them, you can't breathe.
Geege Schuman stashed this in Science Too
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"You'll consume about 2 liters (just over a half gallon) of oxygen in the time it takes you to read this post. About 20 percent of that oxygen comes from photosynthesis by marine diatoms — the most important little organisms that most people have never heard of."
Andrew Alverson, biologist and diatoms expert at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville,has a piece about diatom genomes at Live Science. Check out the fantastic image gallery of these important, tiny life forms.
7:56 PM Jun 11 2014