When we think of alternative energy, we usually think of the big players: solar, wind, geothermal, and the like. But there are some alternative energy sources that we rarely consider. Dutch designer Teresa van Dongen explores one of these alternatives in her bioluminescent lamp called Ambio.

Ambio consists of a glass tube half-filled with an “artificial seawater medium,” counterbalanced by two brass weights. The seawater contains a photobacterium species harvested by taking a scraping from the skin of octopi found at a fish market. The tube is capped off with thick wool that allows oxygen to enter the chamber.

When the bacteria are agitated and provided with oxygen, they glow an otherworldly blue color. By gently nudging one of the brass weights, the tube begins to gently sway, waking up the glowing bacteria inside. For a short time, the lamp provides a perfectly electricity-free light source.

The project is compelling and completely beautiful, but there are problems. The bacteria tend to either run out of food or overpopulate the container fairly quickly, putting an end to the display within about two days. The students from TU Delft who helped van Dongen work on the lamp are currently working on prolonging the lifespan of the bacteria so the living lamp can survive longer.

The post Living Lights: Sea Bacteria Make This Swinging Lamp Glow first appeared on Gajitz.

Bioluminescence is a pretty cool natural phenomenon that lets living organisms glow with their own inner light. Tiny bioluminescent plankton called dinoflagellates make up the inner glow in a cool new toy/virtual pet called Dino Pet.

Dino Pet gets its name and its shape from the dinoflagellates that inhabit its plastic shell. The tiny plankton live in salt water and require minimal care to thrive and bring you a sweet little light show at night.

During the day, your Dino Pet should be set in indirect light. At night, give it a little shake to stimulate the plankton and make them glow. Every now and then, you dump some liquid nutrients into the dino’s belly to keep the plankton fed.

The amount of light your Dino Pet puts off depends on how well you care for it. If you pay attention to it and give it lots of love, it will put on a show for you every night after a little shake.

The toy/pet/biological lamp from BioPop was developed after the company began a quest for a sustainable bio-light. They found dinoflagellates, designed an adorable vessel for them, and made a completely lovable living lamp that’s available in the US for $59.95.

The post Living Lamp Glows Brighter the More Attention You Give It first appeared on Gajitz.

No, it’s not color correction. And don’t worry, you aren’t hallucinating. That’s pure mother nature at work in these bio-luminescent phytoplankton. Awash on a beach in the Maldives, they’re a literal sea of stars.

Taiwanese photographer Will Ho came upon the millions-strong wash of tiny wonders while vacationing on the islands. His pictures not only capture a rare natural event but do so in a manner that piques the imagination.

Scientists have known what makes the phytoplankton tick for some time. Under further scrutiny, Ho made the same discovery. The little guys react to stress, as evident in the photographs where footprints are clearly marked among the blue gel-like beach.

The post The Stars Aligned In This Series Of Nature Photographs first appeared on Gajitz.

Bioluminescence occurs in insects, animals, plants, and bacteria fairly frequently, but so far we haven’t harnessed it for our own personal use. A company called Bioglow is changing all that by creating the first autoluminescent plant: a glowing plant that doesn’t need chemicals, special lights, or electricity to glow.

They call their first prototype Starlight Avatar. It was developed from a strain of ornamental plants and genetically modified to glow on its own. The plant’s life cycle is only 2-3 months – with the brightest glow coming from the younger growth – so don’t expect the light show to continue for years to come. But Bioglow is working on making the plants brighter and longer-lasting so that eventually they may reduce our reliance on electricity for light.

While the first thought that popped into our heads was creating a whole outdoor garden full of glowing plants, the Starlight Avatar is strictly an indoor ornamental plant. The plants emit light continuously, though, so you can still build an interesting terrarium or array of planters indoors.

The actual mechanism for creating the glowing flora can be found in a 2010 PL0S One article by Dr. Alexander Krichevsky, the head of the project, and his colleagues. Although the Starlight Avatar isn’t exactly for sale at the time of writing, the company decided to auction off 20 of the glowing plants with starting prices of just $1 for people who can’t wait to get their hands on one.

The post Glowing Plants Are a Step Toward Electricity-Free Lighting first appeared on Gajitz.