Smart inventors came up with a creative solution which could help us save hundreds of dollars of energy bills.
As currently considered in countries like Denmark, It could even be a solution to replace street lamps altogether: glow in the dark trees.
Trees glowing in the dark?
Yes, trees emitting light after being charged by sunlight. Bioluminescent trees could ultimately become a greener alternative to LED lighting, which has already replaced traditional street lamps in most cities all over the world. That would be so cool!
See how it (could) look(s) (source: FastGrowingTrees.com).
These trees would be grafted with white phosphorus to illuminate light.
As explained in FastGrowingTrees pitch, trees (would) come alive at dusk after being charged by simple sunlight all day long. And if you don’t have enough sunshine in your area, you could charge the tree with a HPO light during the day to make sure it’s effective in times of darkness.
Are we there yet?
Let’s be honest, this is still a dream project in its infancy.
No one has ever successfully tweaked the genetic makeup of plants to make them luminescent. A Kickstarter project made an attempt in 2013 (The Glowing Plant) but it didn’t succeed, despite raising more than $480,000.
It’s funny to read the end of the sales pitch on FastGrowingTrees: “Your kids won’t know what a star constellation is because eventually, they won’t be able to see the stars at night with these tree”. As a replacement, you might offer them a plastic sky of glow in the dark stars though, available on Amazon.
If we ever manage to bioengineer trees or other plants to transform them into fluorescent lamps, it could be a risky business: the spread of seeds could travel hundreds of miles and contaminate other plants and maybe, ultimately, find their way to the food chain, into our own bodies: we would become walking street lamps!
We would then become mutants, like these ill-fated CIA agents who tried to extract super powers from aliens in the sixties (#notfakenews). You know, the infamous Glow In The Dark CIA.
In the current state of science, what we can do is use phosphorescent material to improve public spaces brightness at night. Neon tape, glow in the dark paint and other low cost solutions listed on our site.
What else would you like to bioengineer to make it glow? Would you like to have a glowing dog or a glowing cat? A self-illuminating Christmas tree? Or maybe a glowing partner. What for? She (he) already shines! And if she doesn’t, no worries, you can still buy her a nice set of glow in the dark lingerie. There’s always a glowing solution!
