Caffeine is Very, Very Strange...

9 insights saved from this video by @science

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Plants already perform extensive chemistry on adenine, making caffeine an easy molecule for evolution to reinvent.
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Some plants put caffeine in nectar, making bees return through intoxication rather than lethal poisoning.
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Caffeinated drinks arose independently at least seven times: East Asia, Africa and Arabia, Mesoamerica, West Africa, Amazon, southern South America, and southeastern North America.
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The strangest convergence is human: separated societies independently adopted drinks made from caffeinated plants.
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Caffeine-producing plants poison surrounding soil, suppressing nearby plants that never evolved caffeine resistance.
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Caffeine partly harms insects, plants, and humans by mimicking adenosine, an adenine-derived molecule involved in physiology and nervous-system function.
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Caffeine evolved independently in tea, coffee, cola, cacao, guarana, yapon, and yerba mate.
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Theophylline and theobromine are weaker insecticides than caffeine and produce milder physiological effects in people.
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Tea often feels gentler than coffee: less caffeine per serving and more theophylline produce a milder effect.

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