Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere able to synthesize food directly from and water using energy from light. However, not all organisms that use light as a source of energy carry out photosynthesis, since "photoheterotrophs" use organic compounds, rather than , as a source of carbon. In plants, algae and cyanobacteria, photosynthesis releases oxygen. This is called "oxygenic photosynthesis". Although there are some differences between oxygenic photosynthesis in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, the overall process is quite similar in these organisms. However, there are some types of bacteria that carry out anoxygenic photosynthesis, which consumes but does not release oxygen. Carbon dioxide is converted into sugars
Carbon dioxide laser as 5,000° C, producing bright thermal radiation. The common plastic poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) absorbs IR light in the 2.8–25 µm wavelength band, so CO lasers have been used in recent years for fabricating microfluidic devices from it, with channel widths of a few hundred micrometers. Because the atmosphere is quite transparent to infrared light, CO lasers are also used for military rangefinding using LIDAR techniques. CO lasers are used in spectroscopy and the Silex process to enrich uranium. The Soviet Polyus was designed to use a megawatt carbon-dioxide laser as an in-orbit weapon to destroy SDI satellites. Carbon dioxide