Here’s what you’ll learn when reading this story:For more than a century, the amount of light produced by a firefly has been translated through different units, eventually arriving at 1013–1014 photons per flash.In a new study, scientists reanalyzed these numbers and discovered that the number is off by two orders of magnitude.
This updated figure tells us that other long-standing figures, since translated into modern units, might also need updating.One of the most stunning displays of bioluminescence in the animal kingdom belongs to the humble firefly, found throughout North America.
A firefly’s light-emitting organ, also known as its “lantern,” contains specialized cells called photocytes that contain the organic compound luciferin and the enzyme luciferase.
Fireflies control oxygen intake, and the interaction of this oxygen with calcium and adenosine triphosphate (ATP)—along with luciferin and luciferase—produces a “cold” light (which is good news, because any heat produced by process would likely kill the insect).This incredible light display has dazzled humans since time immemorial, but it wasn’t until 1912 when American physicist William Coblentz—a pioneer in radiometry and spectroscopy—decided to quantify how much light fireflies (specifically in the species Photinus pyralis) produce.At the time, Coblentz described the firefly’s light-producing power in “candles,” placing P.
pyralis’s light producing ability at around 1/50th to 1/400th the power....
