Re: Energy To Matter - How is it done?
Realist, I have been mesmerised by your original observation.
It's as if the tree has developed from nothing, the same as the crab shell.
I focused my thoughts on to the mighty Sperm Whale; one of the largest living things on the planet, and wondered how this mighty animal could survive and grow on just microscopic foodstuffs [plankton] and applied this to the tree anomaly.
There are many forms of life growing in the soil: Vegetable matter, fungus and other bacteria, add to this the chemical make up of the surrounding air, and finally the energy absorbed from the sunlight. All these things can be turned into tree like matter for our tree to grow. Although the Oak tree is very large, it takes a long time to get to that size, so it's requirements on a daily basis would be very small.
Very little grows under the large spreading Oak tree, which again would suggest that nutrients are taken from the soil, the larger the tree, the larger the root spread.
Both the Whale and the Oak tree take their microscopic food supply twenty four seven, 365 days a year, whereas humans and other animals tend to pig out on three squares a day; sometimes in large quantities. We move about more than the tree as Gumbud rightly states, so our food will be burnt fast, and will require replenishment frequently.
I must point out Realist; that this is not based on any sound scientific foundations, just my own theories......Other theories are available....Like you, I like the ponder the mysteries of this world.....