Surface-dwelling plants get their carbon from the air (CO2).

Sure, he's a crackpot. A crackpot with a PhD from Cambridge (the Cavendish Laboratory) who is currently doing research at Oxford, and is on the science team for the construction of the largest radio telescope in the world, who's been published dozens of times in tier-1 peer-reviewed astrophysics journals. So, I guess I'll read what the crackpot has to say.

No don't. It's fun watching it happen, in real time. ;)

Hmm, I read the AC's comment as satire, along the lines of "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift. In other words, I think he may have been agreeing with you. No matter, since it's the internet, proceed immediately to the verbal evisceration phase.

I'd be careful about saying that "one of" your online friends isn't a child.

I'm spelling-option challenged, you insensitive clod!

Wow. I know it's impolite to call out typos and misspellings on the internet, but Jesus!

Take 50 mcg of sufentanil and get back to us on that.

Unless it's on Wall Street. Then, ask for straight coffee alkaloids and snort them.

Yes, but that's not a widely known fact because, well, mum's the word on that.

"BANG, ZOOM!"

Research those 44 supposed kratom-related deaths. I have. They were all very tenous conclusions at best. My favorite was the attribution of kratom as the cause of death when the decedent coincidentally also had just gotten a gunshot wound to the chest.

Prove it. A doctor saying Kratom alkaloids were present in the bloodstream, therefore the death was caused by Kratom is a long way from proving that it was even likely as the causative agent. And the typical doctor has next to no knowledge of the pharmacology or toxicology of mitragyine or hydroxymitragynine.

Finally, a bad pun. That's the whole reason I clicked on this story.

"Deuce and a Quarter". I drove one of those back in high school. We called it the White Whale. Huge.