Scientists at NASA have actually figured out how potential plants on other planets might be colorized. Depending on the planets atmosphere (that works as a radiation filter, so it kind of decides what light that will be served to any plant down on the surface) and the type of star it orbits (for example, our sun emits most of its energy in the green spectrum…although most of this is later absorbed by the ozone in our atmosphere), the plant could be in basically any colour but blue. Although blue is a tempting colour for making up alien rainforest, flesh eating flowers and so on, it is a highly unlikely imagination since the majority of photosynthetic organisms harvest blue light and leaves no left over for the eye.
What makes my head scratch is why the scientist believe that they might find organism that would resemble our world's photosyntetic organisms that much. I would imagine the evolution of photosyntesis far too complex to be reproducible in similar ways of what we know. But hey, that's just my humble 25-year old mind being snotty.
Sources:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-color-of-plants-on-other-worlds
UPDATE
Wouldn’t this be the perfect evolution study project: you take some (tons!) earthly seedlings of various known plant species, hitch a ride with a space shuttle to the closest planet with a life-friendly atmosphere and place out the seedlings all over the planet. Then go home, watch TV and wait a couple of million (or billion) years until you can return to the planet. When you return, you ought to see how time and new premises have affected photosyntesis. Would all of the plants evolve in the same directions (e.g. would they all be green? Or red? Or yellow?) or would they have scattered into a rainbow of photosynthetic possibilities?
The almighty Linnaeus didn’t exactly share my liking of the fungi. He referred to them as a disgusting piece of mess and called them the roaming rabble of Flora. It was another Swede, namely Elias Fries that first set the foundations for the modern mycology. Basically, what we see as a fungus is the tip of the ice berg and is only a reproductive construction called the fruiting body. The majority of the organism lives multicellular filaments forming a mycelium (although some live as single cells, such as yeast).
Fruiting bodies are in my point of view the most vivid formations of what we know as life. Here are some examples of fungi (almost all are stinkhorns) that make my heart go a little bit quicker:
The name Phallus shamelessly points out that the fruiting body of this fungus resembles a human penis. This one is a smelly bastard, which has given it the name “stinkhorn”. Of course, some brave mouthed person has once discovered that this stinky thing is edible and therefore it is consumed in parts of
(Image revised from http://www.owlspleasure.com/sculpture/mushrooms/Phallus%20impudicus.JPG)
Clathrus ruber
Oh! This one – Clathrus ruber – just makes me happy all the way out to my fingertips. It looks like a metal climbing construction that we had in some play yards in my hometown (maybe that’s the reason behind my happiness) and apparently the inside is covered with smelly slime. A fungi for every childish mind that is not set on princesses and action figures!
(Image revised from http://micologia.net/g3/albums/Chlatrus-ruber/Clathrus_ruberfer.jpg)
Aseroë rubra
Now this is just weird. The anemone stinkhorn (Aseroë rubra) looks like something that managed to escape
(Image revised from http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/aseroe_rubra.jpg)
Out of the stinkhorn gang and into the tooth fungus world – here’s a bleeding tooth fungus. The fruiting body alters droplets of a red fluid on the salmon-pink, spongy body. The pigment that gives the “blood” its colour is called atrometin, which is similar to the anticoagulant heparin used in health care.
(Image revised from http://mushroomobserver.org/name/show_name/232)
Sources:
http://www.naturskolan.lund.se/blad/blad63-svamp/blad63.htm
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elias_Fries
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungus
http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/DisplayBlock~bid~6601.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phallus_impudicus
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/clathrus_ruber.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asero%C3%AB_rubra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydnellum_peckii
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~gbarron/MISCE2002/hpeckii.htm
(Image revised from: http://galathea3.emu.dk/es/blog/cerdos-de-mar.html)
Scrotplanes belong to the phylum Echinoderms, which includes other sea floor creatures such as sea stars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers. In the phylum, they are further classified as Holothuroidea, which states that they are more related to the sea-cucumbers than the other members of this phylum. Together they form large groups on the sea floor, making their way in a sludge-like fashion. Movement is generated by using long tube feet. I don't know if these feet is what can be seen on the picture on the left, or if those feet-like thingies are just some tentacles or confusing ornaments of unknown purpose.
