The Oxygen Bottleneck (IMAGE)

University of Rochester

The Oxygen Bottleneck

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Coined by astrophysics Adam Frank and Amedeo Balbi, the “oxygen bottleneck” describes the critical threshold that separates worlds capable of fostering technological civilizations from those that fall short. “You might be able to get biology—you might even be able to get intelligent creatures—in a world that doesn’t have oxygen,” Frank says, “but without a ready source of fire, you’re never going to develop higher technology." 

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University of Rochester illustration / Michael Osadciw

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