11 June 2009

Glow in the dark Musrooms

From EnvironmentalGraffiti.com, comes an article about naturally photoluminescent mushrooms. These neon green mushrooms, or Mycena chlorophos, to use the technical
term, emerge during the rainy season in Japanese and Brazilian forests,
scattering the floor with glowing spores.

Emmanuel Boitier

Found mostly on Mesameyama island in Ugui, Japan and Ribeira Valley
Tourist State Park, Brazil, the appearance of these garish looking
fungi is due to bioluminescence, one of the weird but wonderful
reactions that happen naturally in many plants and animals.

Bioluminescence occurs when the natural chemical energy produced within
an organism is converted to light energy. The result is an amazing
display of natural fluorescent light, or ‘cold light’ (as
opposed to red hot light). The color of bioluminescence is normally at
the blue/green end of the visible light spectrum.

This organic light display can be seen in the late summer months, and
although there are nightly visits to the forests in Japan, these rare
shrooms only thrive where they are because they’ve been
relatively undisturbed by humans. So, for now it’s probably best
to enjoy them from the comfort of your own home, that way they’ll
be around for a while longer.

the riddler was on the loose

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