You would not believe your eyes if 10 million fireflies lit up the world as you fell asleep. And remember when you were a kid and your friend showed you their glow-in-the-dark T-shirt? Or remember when they spoke about a bioluminescent rabbit on Sherlock? Maybe, it’s time for wood to get that glow-up.
It sounds like a magical idea, almost: wood that glows in the dark. Scientists in Switzerland are said to have figured out a way to make balsa wood do that with the help of fungus under certain conditions.
Though, getting the wood to glow would take some time. The fungus and the wood would need to be incubated for about 3 months in a very moist environment. The wood would end up absorbing close to 10x its weight in water and a green glow starts when the wood is, then, exposed to oxygen. The same principle makes fireflies twinkle or glowing jellyfish that’s the screensaver on somebody’s computer. Looks like the magical effect has been replicated and might be harnessed.
Imagine your desk lighting up in the dark at night. Or all the trees being your compass to get to your house at night. Lights will guide you home. Maybe, this could mean that wood could be an energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly alternative to the lighting sources you’re familiar with. The parks or public spaces at night could be naturally illuminated. Does this mean the end to harsh artificial lights? Maybe, that soft green glow of wood in one’s home could foster a more tranquil and ambient home setting. And if there’s timber that’s being unused or on the way to be burned, could glow-in-the-dark wood become the next cool building material?
This is actually a thing called “biodesign”, where biological systems are used to form solutions or products that might be socially-conscious or sustainable. That’s how Google’s AI Search defines it when you search for the word on the search engine. It might always be cool when there’s something that could minimize harm to the planet, while still looking spectacular.
Could India leverage its local biodiversity to make this work? We may have fun guys, but we may, also, have the fungi for this. It’s said that the construction industry accounts for close to 25% of air pollution, 40% of drinking water contamination and 50% of landfill waste. Maybe, even green building materials might not be equally functional and aesthetic.
Of course, while the Swiss scientists may have done it in a lab, maybe, it’s not as feasible to replicate this at an industrial scale. But, maybe, with the right investments, keeping in mind India’s renewable energy targets, it could be figured out. And how long would the wood be bioluminescent for? Could the glow fade? Would the glow have to be reactivated? Or can the glow simply be lost? That’s sad. And what could impact durability? Could it be rain? Sun? Maybe, the short-term appeal of glow-in-the-dark wood could still create demand.
So, wood you or wood you not want your wood to shine a bit more?
