I really like the respectful, non-patronizing manner in which Jonathan responded to the reader's question.

Jonathan - when people are asking for your expertise, telling them that they lack a middle school knowledge level of science might not be the least offensive way of pointing out someone's ignorance. I'm not saying that the question writer was offended - but I would hardly blame him/her if he/she was.

Also, unless the writer was a 5 year old, I would doubt that your "good for you for thinking about it" comment really came across as respectful.

Eh. Given that most adults could not pass a middle school science test without a refresher, there's no shame in not remembering the details of some of this stuff. I don't think the problem is that schools aren't educating us. Most of us don't retain information that we don't need or use on a regular basis. However, schools should teach us how to think and how the process of science works. The poster thought that perhaps s/he had, in thirty seconds, had an original thought that might turn conventional wisdom on its head. If for no other reason than that, s/he deserves a gentle reprimand. Science is sufficiently advanced that none of us non-specialists are going to have a casual breakthrough thought while sipping a diet soda. We should all know better than that.

I would rather read a pithy article where he talks down to me than his normal fare.

@4 I know your question may be tongue-in-cheek somewhat, but my plants love carbonated water. I don't know about the sweetener though.

I too was saddened by the question. I went to a public school in Wisconsin in the 80's, and we had a year of required Biology, and 2 years of optional biology, which everyone took (because it was fun and the other choices were boring). We covered all the basics in that first year that would have answered this question, including the laws of thermodynamics one would have to break in order to make sugars from CO2 without USING energy.
Do the curricula of public schools not require biology nowadays?

Any way we can roast Congress on a stick?
That's already 100% pure fat and putrid gristle.

@ 5 and @7 - I think that we are making an assumption about the education of the original poster. How do we know that he/she has even graduated high school? Not everyone has, in fact around 15% have not. Seems a little condescending of Jonathan to berate someones education without knowing whether or not they were educated.

@6 - the way that Jonathan should have handled it is not post the question at all. I doubt that the majority of readers learned anything of scientific value from the article. Jonathan used the question to give himself the chance to call someone stupid.