4 ms·
Light without electricity? Glowing algae could make it possible
- ceejayoz 6mo agoThis feels like weird framing. They still need energy to produce it. I have a genetically engineered luminescent petunia plant. It’s neat, but a ways off from being useful for anything.
- aetherspawn 6mo agoWow.. this is maybe the plant for anyone interested: https://light.bio/ https://light.bio/
- ceejayoz 6mo agoThat's the one, yeah.
- contingencies 6mo agoMushrooms too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omphalotus_nidiformis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omphalotus_nidiformis
- perrygeo 6mo agoSuper strange framing. The plant still need solar energy. They still need electricity within the tissues of the organism to survive (ATP and krebs cycle). Humans have always burned organic matter for light. Not trying to be a pedant but "Light without electricity" falls down when examined from any angle. It's not a serious claim.
- cassianoleal 6mo agoSo can torches and candles.
- dullcrisp 6mo agoThe sun?
- m3kw9 6mo agogood for car dashboards, maybe for not vital areas
- Razengan 6mo agoI don’t want algae on my vital areas
- rini17 6mo agoGood? You would need the dashboard climate controlled all the time otherwise the algae gets sterilised in the sun. On the other hand, if you park underground all day, must provide light otherwise it dies. Either way it will eat your battery in no time. Such an idea might be a good startup pitch for gullible investors but won't survive clash with reality.
- walrus01 6mo agoIt rather resembles the CGI protomolecule from 'The Expanse'.
- hoerensagen 6mo agoIt is also relevant to something from the last three books, which haven't made it onto TV yet.
- sandworm101 6mo agoWhy all the bother with 3d-printed gel shapes? Why not just use a mat of these things, all glowing, and then put it behind an LCD panel. Then you can have moving pictures without all the bother of 3d printing. Then you can take the next step and both their apparent output further by replacing the algae with tiny blue LED modules.
- kiba 6mo agoI think it's fine for research, curiosity, aesthetic and coolness factor. Not everything need to be 'practical'.
- Razengan 6mo agoTechnically [nerd emoji] nothing is possible without electricity (No I don’t go to any parties)
- card_zero 6mo ago> Because these algae are photosynthetic ... "We’re storing carbon while we’re producing light" The circle of light! Perpetual illumination! Let the algae do photosynthesis using their own light output as energy! What's happening, chemically? Let's see ... it's luciferin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Luciferin_Light_Emission_Mechanism.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Luciferin_Light_Emission_... Isn't that CO2 being emitted on the right, there?
- shellfishgene 6mo agoI think they mean the algae is in sunlight during the day and growing, producing light only at night.
- card_zero 6mo agoCould be. So over the mentioned four weeks, the algae is reproducing more cells in sunlight, and emitting light at night, while gradually wearing out in some way and "retaining 75% of their brightness". Then at the end of the month you have a bucket of tired algae, and that's the stored carbon. I don't know what you do with it. You probably shouldn't chuck it in a river. Its likely fate is methane, wherever you put it.
- californical 6mo agoThat sounds kinda like carbon capture, but decentralized to these light nodes
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- technotony 6mo agoI hope this works. A decade ago I submitted glowing microbes to the epa but they blocked it. My read from going through that was that it was politically impossible. Hopefully times have changed. Edit: my microbes were gmo, these are not, so no epa rules. Good luck to them!
- arthurcolle 6mo agodid you keep a few of your gmo cultures?
- mock-possum 6mo agoWhat are the politics of glowing microbes?
- ASalazarMX 5mo agoI've heard it's a cultural problem, too sterile.
- Scroll_Swe 6mo agoModern LED lights really draw no power at all in the grand scheme of things
- quickthrowman 6mo agoThey’re pretty incredible, 200+ lumens per watt for LED lighting vs 16 lumens per watt for incandescent, 12.5x more efficient. Commercial LED fixtures have rated lifetimes of 50,000+ hours.
- bluebarbet 6mo agoThe residual problem as ever being the rebound effect, AKA Jevons paradox. Let's hope that humans find a way not to want everything 12.5x brighter.
- toast0 6mo agoThe pain experienced by looking at bright source of light seems to be fairly effective?
- maxerickson 6mo agoI guess it's unlikely to be 12x, but people probably do consume more light, by way of being less worried about switching them off.
- doubled112 6mo agoHave you seen modern car headlights?
- toast0 6mo agoI try not to, on account of the pain.
- dredmorbius 5mo agoIt's less that individual light fixtures or applications become brighter than that more things are lit. Outdoor lighting 30 years ago used to be limited to, say, a porch light and perhaps a few motion-sensor floodlights near a garage or driveway, and those only on a handful of houses within a neighbourhood. Today it seems that the majority of homes in many locations have persistent outdoor lighting, whether along paths, gardens, or building peripheries. Holiday lighting is far more prevalent, and not strictly limited to Christmas and Halloween. I'd seen Easter lighting exhibits in recent years, as well as adverts for firms offering holiday lighting services. And that's just residences. Illuminated billboards, industrial lighting, street lighting, etc., are all both more prevalent and brighter than a few decades ago. A friend is on a campaign against a local business whose bright lights shine directly into their house all night.
- Sam6late 6mo agoI remember old watches that used to have some phosphors dots on the 4 main quarters in a hand watch to see time in the dark, while as kids we would take a to bed a rosary with glow-in-the-dark marbles to emit light from the phosphors inside.That would last for 30 minutes or more.