Aristotle had already seen it 2,400 years ago: wood that glows on its own in the dark. But until now, no one had managed to reproduce that phenomenon in a laboratory in a controlled way.
The team of researcher Francis Schwarze, from the EMPA institute in St. Gallen, Switzerland, achieved it by impregnating balsa wood with the fungus Desarmillaria tabescens, also known as the ‘ringless honey fungus’. This organism naturally produces luciferin, the same substance that makes fireflies glow. When that luciferin comes into contact with air, an enzymatic reaction is activated and the wood begins to emit a soft green light, with a wavelength of 560 nanometers. The maximum brightness arrives after about ten hours, and the entire preparation process takes around ten days.
The applications envisioned by the researchers range from eco-friendly signs in parks to interior design, jewelry, and furniture that glow without consuming energy. If the technology scales, you could have in your home a material that lights up using only a fungus and air. 🌿