Let there be light- part two - Foxfire

Foxfire is the stuff of magic. A strange eerie glow found in forests in the depth of night has both enchanted and baffled people who saw the colourful illuminations on dead trees, or in caves, for centuries. From an article in PhysOrg where they describe what Foxfire is,  "...nutrient-sipping threads of the honey mushroom give off a faint but eerie glow in rotten logs…Desjardin said. "People are mostly afraid of them, calling them 'ghost mushrooms.'"

Read more at:
https://phys.org/news/2011-07-mushroom-night-brazil-bioluminescent-fungus.html#jCp

When I saw images of these spooky lights I knew I had to use them in the apocalyptic prequel to my sci-fi/dystopian series The Song of Forgetfulness. I wanted a way for survivors to be able to have light other than just burning wood. But I needed to know about this wondrous spectacle. I do love research.

It wasn’t until the 19th century that biologists were able to identify the strange light as a fungal growth on rotting wood. Now more commonly known as Bioluminescence, this light source can be found throughout the animal kingdom. Fireflies use it, fish use it as do many forms of mollusc and plankton.

Click on the link to view some glowing organisms.
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/bioluminescence/

In my prequel, The Chronicles of Mayer, survivors of an ecological disaster need to find ways to lighten their gloomy world. It was not my intention to recreate the shining forests in the film ‘Avatar’ just to somehow use actual scientific research to give credibility to my narrative. Some scientists in my story, stumble across glowing mushroom type organisms in the rotting bark of a tree. They inject it into living trees and when it is dark they glow. In the passage below, Janet, one of the scientists, attempts to explain how they did it.

“Using a design reproducing transform cycle we created the light emitting DNA on a laser printer. Then injected the trees with the DNA of the luminous mould. As it spreads throughout the sap, it causes them to light up at night. Although it’s found mostly on dead trees, with a few tweaks at a molecular level, we managed to make the fungus work symbiotically.”

www.thesongofforgetfulness.com

I’m not the only author to use this Foxfire in literature, Aristotle, Pliny the Elder, and Mark Twain were familiar with it. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer uses the fungal phenomenon to bring light to a dark tunnel.

My representation of what Foxfire mushrooms look like, I couldn’t find any royalty free images.

The concept of being able to light our world without the use of fossil fuels, exciting and would benefit third world countries too. From an article in The Guardian: “This would be a key breakthrough in, for instance, designing a genetically modified tree that could glow in the dark and act as a sustainable source of street lighting.”

You can read the full piece here: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jul/03/fungi-glow-dark-luminscent-mushrooms-conservation-enviroment-bioscience

I researched different types of naturally occurring brightness in organisms and not only discovered some amazing creatures, but some amazing scientists working on creating ‘night-light’ type small trees that have this bioluminescence fungus placed into their DNA. The company called their research The Glowing Plant Project and back in 2013, the idea of self-illuminating trees caught the imagination. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/antonyevans/glowing-plants-natural-lighting-with-no-electricit

Although The Glowing Plant Project gained sufficient funding for their research development, they were unable to deliver the plants and are now working on glowing moss.

Such a shame, I was half hoping they would manufacture self-lighting Christmas trees. Wouldn’t that be wonderful to have a living tree in your room that sparkles without the need to unravel all of those annoying fairy lights that become inexorably entangled when put away after the holiday festivities. Until that day arrives I’ll do my best to reduce the hacking down of fir trees to adorn our homes by using a twig tree. First steps in having an environmentally friendly Christmas.

More tips here: Ethical Xmas trees Friends of the Earth: https://www.foe.co.uk/natural-resources/21-ecofriendly-christmas-tips

All photos copyright of the author.

Let there be light - part 1 #OurAuthorGang

Nature is amazing. We humans are, for the most part, in awe of it and have been ever since we crawled out of the primal ooze. Nothing stirs the soul quite so much as a beautiful sunset, a sunrise, a mass of twinkling stars, or the constant glow of the moon.

The sun gives us light and warmth, stars make us wonder about far off worlds, the moon illuminates our darkness with its wide-eyed face looking down on us like a distant mother watching her children. 

Not surprising that mankind worshipped these celestial orbs. From Ancient Egyptians and Aztec
sun gods to modern day Druids worshiping Alban Hefin the sun king during the Summer Solstice sunrise over Stonehenge, our need for light is deep routed in our psysche.

Many writers have used light to express happiness, love, hope, expectation. Just listen to some songs, the word 'light' comes up quite often. In my short story Glimmer, the protagonist, a young man resisting the drugs he is given to keep him 'sane', retreats into his own world and listens for the voices that come from the stars.

The world will not end because I close my eyes. The sun will still shine, so too the stars.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H89AN1M 

Many religions past and present have celebrated the joys of light. Festivals and special feast days such as Diwali, a Hindu tradition where families fill their homes and gardens with candles and lamps to celebrate the triumph of good over evil, to ignite wisdom in our hearts and bring hope to our darkest hours. The Jewish festival Hanukkah celebrating the victory of the Maccabees over the Hellenistic Syrians begins with the lighting of the shamash candle in the menorah. Christians light candles to honour the dead and pray for loved ones who need help. At Christmas, we decorate our houses with strings of cloloured lights

When there is no light, we miss it, don’t we? People in general, aren’t fond of the dark. Danger lurks in the shadows. What we can’t see we fear. Not so for cats or owls. They have a tapetum behind their retinas which acts like a mirror to reflect any source of limited light causing their pupils to expand and cover the entire front of their eyes. Enabling them to see in the almost dark.

Humans are adaptable though, and what we don’t possess naturally, we create. Our ancient ancestors recreated the sun by making fire. As we evolved so to did our methods of lighting our homes and streets. The ancient wood burning led to the use of wax candles, then gas lights, which were replaced by the magic of electricity, light bulbs. However, there is a cost to all of this. These wonderful illuminations have put a huge burden on our resources. Fossil fuels needed to generate our bright world are coming to an end. Even with wind turbines and solar panelling we are still in danger of not have enough power to generate all of the lights that are turned on across the planet each night. Will future generations be plunged into darkness?

Perhaps not, for there may be a simple solution to all of this.

Both fauna and flora have naturally occurring light sources. The Firefly, squid, jellyfish, insects, plankton and some strains of fungi, emit a bright glow that is generated from within. No outside source of energy is needed to produce their brightness.

Let me introduce you to Bioluminescence. Possibly the next step in our search for sustainable and renewable energy that will bring light to our darkness.

Check out these amazing creatures that glow in the dark: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/21011428

Watch out for my next post – Foxfire - where new technical advances are using natures natural light to brighten our world.

All photographs are by the author.

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