Can life keep a planet habitable without trying to? Daisyworld shows how — black and white daisies competing for sunlight hold the temperature steady even as the star grows hotter.
DaisyworldLive
planetary self-regulation (Gaia)
Controls
Watson and Lovelock's Daisyworld shows how life can regulate a planet. Black daisies warm a cold world by absorbing sunlight; white daisies cool a hot one by reflecting it. As the sun brightens, the daisy mix shifts to hold the temperature nearly constant — biological homeostasis with no foresight.
Reading this result: Under a dim sun (L=0.70), dark black daisies (20%) take over and absorb sunlight, warming the planet toward the temperature life prefers.
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How it works
James Lovelock and Andrew Watson built Daisyworld to answer critics of the Gaia hypothesis. Black daisies absorb heat and warm a cold planet; white daisies reflect it and cool a hot one. As solar luminosity rises, the balance of the two shifts to keep global temperature nearly constant — homeostasis emerging from simple competition, with no coordination.
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