http://www.buginfo.com/bugsinhouse/firefly2.cfm ------- They should just release swarms of fireflies in NY. I find it interesting how much more energy efficient they are than lightbulbs.

Depends what you call efficient. They don't release much heat but they break down a protein (I think) called luciferin with an enzyme called luciferase. Creating both those molecules would take alot of energy.

maybe for us to replicate the chemicals, but for the fireflies it appears to be a simple task: i mean thats what they do right? There aren't any fireflies that fail to light themselves, so evidently they've got it all figured out.

Using fireflies would be more expensive, less efficient and much less reliable.

Less efficent only by reason that they are too expensive-- and what makes them expensive? Why don't we just breed them like crazy, thus making them a common commodity (hence not expensive) Well i guess you'd have apoint there about not being as reliable. Controlling swarms of those beetles in your house would be a difficult task.

 

 

So--- on that other thing about how simple it evidently is for fireflies to create those chemicals, why dont we study how they do it and genetically engineer a biomachine with the same power, but without the problem of being a nasty looking beetle with its own free will. Yeah i know we cant really bio engineer like that yet, so nevermind

It will take more energy to give the equivilent light of, say, a 40W bulb out through beetles than using a bulb.

fine then. I'll just forget of my dreams of infesting society with luminescent beedles. But you just wait until we are all subjects under the world domination of Lampyridae. In the day their reign begins they will not look kindly on those who failed to respect their efficiency!

Can't we just inject firefly juice into plastic walls and light our surroundings?

Just aman

the luminescent overlords will not look kindly on such suggestions--- but sounds like a good idea to me. Maybe we should just forget about the flies and go for fungi though.

probably the hardest part I can envisage would be controling the little critters and keeping them at least semi uniform to get some bennefit from them.

there are a number of different chems that cause that luminescence(sp?) hydrogen peroxide is used to activate them (I don`t remember the name of the ester it`s mixed with though) they`re used in the glo-sticks you see at parties, I beleive the military have some also that can even be used to light up whole rooms!

how about something along the lines of Zinc Sulphide though? use the sun to charge it and then it stays lit during the night (like these glow in the dark stickers).

Radium used to be used MANY years ago with Zinc Suphide powder and made into a paste used to paint clock dials, they stay lit forever with or without exposure to light, sadly it was dangerous

It would interesting to find out if there was something more efficient than the material used in these stickers though, make something similar to a "Light capacitor"