Feral-sapien wrote:
zee wrote:
Feral-sapien wrote:
Luciferin?
I didn't know that was the proper name...interesting
Luciferin is the enzyme that fireflies oxidize, which makes them glow... But I don't think it's the same thing as in the glowsticks.
I see..interesting...(Makes me wonder what else produces light during oxidation..ie,,I wonder if the iron to iron oxide actually produces a light that we possibly cannot see..)
Hmm, I don't know about iron oxide. If you can't see the light, then it's not very interesting. I know there are different forms of luciferin, which is also produced by certain fungi, dinoflagellates, bacteria, and fish living in the deeper parts of the ocean.
Another thing that's really interesting is the discovery of phosphorus. Here is a brief description:
"More than 300 years ago, in 1669, Hennig Brand, a Hamburg alchemist, like most chemists of his day, was trying to make gold. He let urine stand for days in a tub until it putrified. Then he boiled it down to a paste, heated this paste to a high temperature, and drew the vapours into water where they could condense - to gold. To his surprise and disappointment, however, he obtained instead a white, waxy substance that glowed in the dark."