Omg They Did it, Secret formula for a firefly?s glow

[bonkers325]

It?s a sultry summer evening, and the fireflies are engaging in a little old fashioned courting as they flit through the dusk, using the brightly glowing lanterns in their abdomens to flash a kind of lovers? Morse code. Even among the fireflies, communication between the sexes is crucial: Courtship depends on these precisely timed and patterned flashes. So how do fireflies achieve such control over their on/off switches? A unique experiment in Friday?s issue of the journal Science suggests that nitric oxide gas may be the key to these bursts of brilliance.

Link

 

[mk52]

fascinating

 

[Elledan]

Interesting read

BTW you're on your daily newshunt again? Maybe you want to be the next 'Ace Reporter'?

 

[HansHurt]

So the fireflies are farting?

 

[gittyup]

Now they just need to invent a cannister that fits your back side to hold the gas. It could be a new step in human courting..

 

[Pretender]

the gas is released by cars....how come I never see fireflies near cars' exhausts glowing?

 

[hpkeeper]

yeah... how about that... I thought that was just one of the cool accessories to being a firefly. Turns out when you go out to catch a lightening bug and it flashes so you can see it, you are catching a horny firefly.

 

[rudder]

well you all can thank me for the article. Years ago I was paid good money by the Smithsonian to go out an collect fireflies. I think I spent a week catching them and made like $5.