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Science

Scientists Find Firefly 'Switch' 97

Posted by Hemos from the wax-on-wax-off dept.
Johan Jonasson writes "Scientists have found the "switch" that allows a firefly to light up its body. The beetle flashes the "lantern" on its abdomen to attract a mate. Researchers have long understood how the light is generated but the control mechanism used by the insect has been a mystery. Now, a US team has been able to show that the simple molecule nitric oxide acts as the on-off "button"."
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Scientists Find Firefly 'Switch' More

Scientists Find Firefly 'Switch'

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  • synchronized lightning bugs (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Ok smarty pants, then 'splain THIS [smokymtns.com]. How they do that?
  • Scientists have found the "switch" that allows a firefly to light up its body. The beetle flashes the "lantern" on its abdomen to attract a mate.
    Does this mean I can now install a switch of this kind? I would like to attract a mate.
  • The poor lil bugs only have one thing that turns them on. Heck, I got lotsa things that turn me on ;)

    -----
    If Bill Gates had a nickel for every time Windows crashed...

  • news for nerds (Score:3)

    by djKing ( 1970 ) on Friday June 29, 2001 @02:33PM (#118796) Homepage Journal
    if you can't get a mate at least you know how the firefly does.

    -Peace
    Dave
  • So we finally have an insect powered by nitrous oxide, and it only uses it to switch a stupid light on and off? Believe me, if I add nitrous oxide to my motorbike, it won't be used for illumination, although the term "speed of light" may still apply...
  • Okay okay, I'll do it before anyone else. I'm not a chemist. Look, I don't expect you to know everything about subjects you know nothing about do I?
  • Can we add blinkenlights to the kernel?

  • You have to light it up, too.

    --

  • At least THAT'S out of the way... (Score:3)

    by sharkey ( 16670 ) on Friday June 29, 2001 @03:38PM (#118801)
    Push beyond the fireflys, let's see how Rudolph does it! Maybe we can find out how he flies, too.

    --
  • Okay, you win an award for "Best Use of Goatse.cx Link"

    --

  • You misunderstood the analogy -- the human equivalent to this is getting ground effects or neon license plate frames. Chicks go crazy over that stuff. It must be true; i read about it on The Onion.

    --

  • Being a hardcore geek, I will be obligated to explain to my girl why the fireflies blink and shimmer so. Must perform Illumiati-style cover-up.
  • that is the funnuiest fucking thing I've read in a long time. My GF is literally ROTFL.

    Heh

    Pete
  • Best. Sig. Ever.

    Pete
  • [Nitric oxide's] part in assisting men achieve erection has been exploited by the modern impotence drugs like Viagra.

    So, slip some viagra into the punchbowl of the next female firefly gathering, and we have a new source of long-lasting, organic, romantic lighting fixtures ;)

  • Re:synchronized lightning bugs (Score:3)

    by Fluffy the Cat ( 29157 ) on Friday June 29, 2001 @02:57PM (#118808) Homepage
    The insects make subtle alterations to the rate of their flashing in order to synchronise with those around them. The wave of synchronisation spreads thoughout the cluster, and you end up with an entire swarm of insects flashing in time.
  • Hmm...and the "firefly impersionation" my uncle Earl used to do by bending over, flicking a lighter near his ass, screaming "LOOK OUT!"...

    ...turns out to be nothing like a real firefly after all...

    Earl! Why didn't you tell me?! I was not prepared for this!!!
  • Luciferase, the Firefly's green light of consensual sex, is the enzyme referred to (and is also used as a marker in plant studies.)

    mefus
    --
    um, er... eh -- *click*
  • damn I had that problem in high school. Even just riding the bus on the way there, it'd go over a bump and I'd have to hold my books in front of me for the next half-hour. :0

    mefus
    --
    um, er... eh -- *click*
  • The insects live for two years as larvae, eating worms in the soil, and for just two weeks as adults - enjoying just 14 nights of flying, flashing and courtship. Then it is all over.
    Oh God. I was a kid. I didn't realize what I was doing, keeping those bugs trapped in a jar.

  • Live Documentary (Score:4)

    by Velox_SwiftFox ( 57902 ) on Friday June 29, 2001 @04:33PM (#118813)
    Mrs Jalin: There's a man at the door with a moustache.

    Mr Jalin: Tell him I've already got one. (Mrs Jalin hits him hard with a newspaper) All right, all right. What's he want then?

    Mrs Jalin: He says do we want a documentary on Fireflies.

    Mr Jalin: Fireflies!

    Mrs Jalin: Yes.

    Mr Jalin: What's he mean, Fireflies?

    Mrs Jalin: FIREFLIES!! LIGHTNING BUGS! LUCIFERIN OXIDIZING BEETLES! LAMPYRIDAE!

    Mr Jalin: Oh fireflies, I thought you said bacon. (she hits him again) All right, all right. What's he charge then?

    Mrs Jalin: It's free.

    Mr Jalin: Ooh! Where does he want us to sit?

    Mrs Jalin: (calling through the door) He says yes.

    (Mr Zorba enters carrying plywood flat with portion cut out to represent TV. He stands behind flat and starts.)

    Zorba: Good evening. Tonight fireflies. Fireflies are a type of beetle (order Coleoptera), consisting of about 1,900 species that inhabit tropical and temperate regions. The common glowworm is a member of this family...

    Mrs Jalin: Not very interesting is it?

    Zorba: What?

    Mrs Jalin: I was talking to him.

    Zorba: Oh. Anyway, Researchers have long understood how the light is generated but the control mechanism used by the insect has been a mystery. Now, a US team has been able to show that the simple molecule nitric oxide (NO) acts as the on-off "button". It is just one more example of the prominent role played by NO in biochemistry...

    Mrs Jalin: Dreadful isn't it?

    Zorba: What?

    Mrs Jalin: I was talking to him.

    Zorba: Oh. Well anyway... to understand the role NO plays in fireflies, Barry Trimmer, from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, and colleagues studied the insects in tiny custom-designed chambers.

    Mr Jalin: Switch him off.

    (Mrs Jalin gets up and looks for the switch unsuccessfully)

    Zorba: Whenever the fireflies were exposed to nitric oxide they glowed or flashed almost continuously, and they stopped once the nitric oxide was turned off... (looking out) What are you doing?

    Mrs Jalin: Switching you off.

    Zorba: Why, don't you like it?

    Mrs Jalin: Oh it's dreadful.

    Mr Jalin: Embarrassing.

    Zorba: Is it?

    Mrs Jalin: Yes, it's perfectly awful.

    Mr Jalin: Disgraceful! I don't know how they've got the nerve to put it on.

    Mrs Jalin: It's so boring.

    Zorba: Well ... it's not much of a subject is it ... be fair.

    Mrs Jalin: What do you think, George?

    Mr Jalin: Give him another twenty seconds.

    Zorba: Anyway the majority of the Fireflies are members of the Family Lampyridae...

    Mrs Jalin: We knew that (she gets up and goes to the set)

    Zorba: (quickly) However, what is more interesting, er ... is the Firefly's er ... sexual chemistry.

    Mrs Jalin: (stopping dead) Oh!

    Zorba: Yes, the Nitric oxide's part in assisting men achieve erection has been exploited by the modern impotence drugs like Viagra...

    Mrs Jalin: (going back to sofa) Disgusting!

    Mr Jalin: Ought not to be allowed.

    Mrs Jalin: (again) Disgusting!

    Mr Jalin: But more interesting.

    [...]

    [Apologies to Monty Perl, or whoever that was...]

  • Wow, I Wonder when they can embed this into a linux system. Fire flys will soon power all of googles search arrays.

  • What I want to know is how the scientists managed to figure this out without killing the bugs. Did they use insect anesthesia or something to keep them alive to see their abdomens move to cause the light? If so then what about when you step on em and smear em, what causes the chemical to light, since obviously at that point the bug is dead.

    So if it's just the after affect of the bug being smashed which causes the light to shine, how does it manage to halt light, is their like a belly shade covering it...

    Now on a funnier note, imagine if we as people had that, well males rather. Our faces would be swollen from getting slapped at the beach by our partners.

  • Nitric Oxide Transistors Anyone? (Score:3)

    by Louis Savain ( 65843 ) on Friday June 29, 2001 @02:54PM (#118816) Homepage
    Now, a US team has been able to show that the simple molecule nitric oxide acts as the on-off "button"."

    Cool. Now the real important question to us computer geeks is, can they switch on and off at 1000 Ghz?
  • "Turn off your butt!"
  • Man, I'd love to be able to internally generate Nitrous Oxide. Haha! Wheeeee!

    You do, but in very small amounts. It dialates your blood vessels, kind of like that little blue pill...
  • Uh, firefly pr0n?

    --

  • I've always wanted a set of indicator lights on my forehead, things like "Angry, Horny, Sad, Tired, and Planning Your Murder ", the lights could vary in intensity with the emotion, or blink as a warning.
  • You can. And you probably do. This is, of course, assuming that you're a male like the other 98% or so of slashdot, but have you ever had a woody? Yes? There you have it, that's some magic nitrous oxide in action, right there in your pecker.

    And we thought only bugs could do tricks with the stuff!
  • If male humans had this, the California power crisis would not exist. Every male would be "turned on" 24 hours a day.

  • Re:Ummm (Score:3)

    by cybermage ( 112274 ) on Friday June 29, 2001 @03:02PM (#118823) Homepage Journal
    Other than, maybe "news for nerds? Stuff that matters?"

    Don't you think it's important to the future of geekdom to know how to attrack a mate?

    Of course, using Laughing Gas (Nitrous Oxide) to do it is probably illegal in some states ;)
  • Hey, time to light up my butt!

  • Re:Hmm... (Score:4)

    by bapink01 ( 137229 ) on Friday June 29, 2001 @03:11PM (#118825)
    I heard this on NPR. The scientist said that this (the newly understood control mechanism) is similar to the way the male body controls penis erections.
    One of the ways Viagra works is to make the control chemicals more effective.

    Bob Dole with a glow in the dark schlong running after Brittney Spears. How is that for scary imagery.

    As they say in france, "BoooYah!".

  • Fireflys, Lightingbugs call them what you will but I would rather think of them as just a wonder of nature and a pleasure to view on a hot southern night. Science is cool but somethings are more amazing unknown.
  • Some nerds are interested in matter of science other than computers and electronics, believe it or not. You know, all the stuff outside your server closet?

  • News for nerds? Indeed. (Score:4)

    by Faux_Pseudo ( 141152 ) <Faux@Pseudo.gmail@com> on Friday June 29, 2001 @05:00PM (#118828)
    There has been much said about the relivance of this topic. So let us define nerds. Here is my definition: Some one outside of the main stream with an interest in intalectual feilds of study in both the higher and lower sciencs. By that defintion anything with the suffix -ology qualify, like say for example biology. Is it the best idea for a story? No. But flip through you news paper and you will see sports scores on the front page and murders on page c-17. If the coments generated by this story are any indecation then the topic "Its' Funny Laugh" should be remove all together lest some one expand there brain past "sanctioned nerd topics".
  • On a Microsoft [microsoft.com].NET [microsoft.com] server, of course!
  • In the future, I believe that super computers will be based on electrical AND chemical materials. These scientist, having learned how the firefly uses nitric oxide as a switch (a fast one at that)may be part of the key to unlocking the most powerful computer in existance, the human brain. Sure, modern computers can do calculations faster than a human, but is that so. Modern computers cannot reason nor do they have emotions. I believe that the human brain performs functions electrically and chemicly, but more important, the software, the programs, the source code itself are entirely chemical. When we learn how to code with chemical properties to control complex electro/chemical processors, then we will have our next great leap in computer science. To know is knowledge...to apply is wisdom.
  • Heh... now when a girl says to me, "Get lost, freak! Don't you know what NO means?" I can say "Yeah, it's the abbreviation for the chemical compound responsible for the firefly's ability to attract a mate. I see what you're saying..."

    The chicks love me.

  • >what about when you step on em and smear em, what causes the chemical to light, since obviously at that point the bug is dead.

    Indeed. I remember when we were kids we would swat the bugs in mid air because they would then stay lit as they went bouncing off and dropped to the ground. As I remember, they weren't dead and would resume normal flashing after a few minutes.

    Also, we would catch a bunch and put them in a jar, then shake the jar and watch them all light up for a few moments. I wonder how this behavior is explained by the nitric oxide trigger?

    ---

  • ... let's not get silly.

  • O Glorious Day! (Score:4)

    by rmst ( 157328 ) on Friday June 29, 2001 @02:34PM (#118834)
    This is a great day indeed. Armed with this knowledge, I do see many great things that can be done! For example, giant stadiums can be lit by giant fireflies, bred in special giant tubes! Everything will be giant. This is a truly monumental discovery. I hope to live to see the day where ALL light sources have been replaced with fireflies. Headlights, lamps, yes, even the sun. For the sun will run out eventually! But a giant firefly, bred just for the job, well, he'll obviously live forever if we care and nurture him properly. And then we can form a giant cult centered around the worship of the giant firefly... This is the start of a new renaissance. I can feel it in the air. A day is coming. A day where men no longer have to rely on reliable, efficient LED keychain lights, but genetically engineered fireflys, tempermental ones at that. Also, schoolchildren could be encouraged to play with them. Is there any facet of our lives that this discovery won't touch? I can't think of one...


    Let's review:

    • Transportation: medium Firefly
    • Communcation: Miniscule Fibre-OpticFireFlys with tiny keyboards to tap in information
    • Stadium Lighing: Giant Firefly
    • Replacement Sun: Giant GIANT Firefly


    Yes, this is a great day indeed!

    ... And Jellyfish hats.

  • But, I knew some one would throw some light on that issue!

    /me hides in fear from the Pun Police.
  • I don't think the insects had to be alive. They probably started by examining the anatomy of the insects, and observing what chemicals they had in them to compile a list of possible activation chemicals. Then they just extracted the base chemical, tested the potential activation chemicals one by one, and watched what happened. (Who provided funding for this kind of research is another question....)

    Why do they glow when you smash them? Probably because you rupture the sacks they carry the chemicals in and they mix. After the reaction is fully carried out and the chemicals are used up, the glow fades away.

    "Now on a funnier note, imagine if we as people had that, well males rather. Our faces would be swollen from getting slapped at the beach by our partners."

    That's just plain dumb. I'm not going to even bother commenting on that.
  • "Now, a US team has been able to show that the simple molecule nitric oxide acts as the on-off "button"."

    Funny, I usually see stuff start to glow when I inhale some nitrous...

    Oh, NO not N20. That extra N makes a lot of difference.
  • I've been raising firefly in a ranch in California for a few years, firmly believing that some day, they will make me a tons of money.

    Ant this day has come!

    For those of you living in a CA rolling black-out area, I got a solution to light up your dark night.

    It's a natural light, made from a cluster of firefly, and with a switch. You can turn it on and off, at your will. How convenient.

  • Wrong oxide. Nitrous oxide, N20, is laughing gas, the stuff used by dentists alright, but the switch that operates the firefly flash is nitric oxide, NO, a different oxide of nitrogen. Nice try at a bit of humor, though.

    Wonder what does the EPA has to say about this? Can't have all those fireflies flashing so much! Hmm. Maybe it is excessive firefly flashing that causes smog instead of oxides of nitrogen themselves ;-)
  • The first 3 sentences are actually more "insightful" than "funny." A guy named Furchgott at SUNY Downstate won the Nobel prize for his work with NO and blood flow in humans, which directly contributed to the development of Viagra (and the hordes of copycats to come).
  • also if you note, most people when walking in small groups (where the sound is easily discernable) will fall into step so at least the sounds of feet walking will be in sync, even if the left-right-left-right is reversed.

  • Brings to meaning... (Score:4)

    by DanEsparza ( 208103 ) on Friday June 29, 2001 @05:29PM (#118842) Homepage
    This brings new meaning to 'NO means NO' (the chemical symbol for nitric oxide is NO). How ironic is that -- that this has to do with attracting a mate, and the chemical symbol for 'on/off switch' that attracts a mate is 'NO'. Kinda spooky, eh? Also weird is that 'NO' is 'ON' spelled backwards (in case you hadn't noticed).

    Sometimes I wonder if God is just the ultimate prankster, and we're in the joke of a lifetime (literally)...

  • That might not be all that far-fetched. I have a Biology textbook that contains a picture of a tobacco plant that is glowing, thanks to a firefly gene researchers incorporated into the plant's DNA.

  • Make a webserver, which lets people click a button to turn on the firefly's light. The webserver has a webcam attached, so everybody can see 'em. Add that to the list of interestingly odd but useless websites.
  • Man, I'd love to be able to internally generate Nitrous Oxide. Haha! Wheeeee!
  • The fireflies light up with laughing gas. And any scientist with a party attitude might look at the prospect of long studies in darkened fields with laughing gas as rather a fun way to spend an evening. Not all scientists tend to be dour bores, in fact many are quite a lively bunch.
  • If only humans had one of these. :(

    I'd be doing so much better in life...

  • Males blink a certain sequence and hope to see an answering flash from a female.

    God knows I could use an emulator [ultimate-iso.com] for this.

    It is just one more example of the prominent role played by NO in biochemistry. In humans, the molecule is crucial to the dilation of blood vessels and the signalling that goes on between neurons in the brain. Its part in assisting men achieve erection has been exploited by the modern impotence drugs like Viagra.

    Sweet, so I should expect a drug from Pfizer [pfizer.com] soon that'll make my ass glow?
  • I believe it's time to figure a way to get these "lanterns" to our appendages. A little nitric oxide sac located around the spleen would do nicely too.

    Ooouuuchhh

    Dancin Santa
  • It would be bad. Everywhere you go people will be laughing.

    &ltwhisper&gtWhat's the deal with that guy? He's always lit...

    Yeah, I know... He must be some kind of pervert.    &lt/whisper&gt

    Dancin Santa
  • Sorry, that's totally secret.

    Dancin Santa
  • You had fireflies? We had to rub two sticks together to make fire then throw them to simulate fireflies!

    Dancin Santa
  • The scientists put a firefly in a container and started adding nitric oxide. The Nobel prize for medicine was awarded a few years ago for the demonstration that nitric oxide was helpful in the dilation of blood vessels. What the link between that and shining asses, I don't know, but they used the research to come to the firefly theory.

    The key to the lighting is oxygen. When oxygen is flowing to the lantern, the photocytes light up. The nitric oxide suppresses the firefly's mitochondria from energy production (oxygen usage) which in turn leads to an excess of oxygen which then gets funneled into the tail, lighting it up.

    I'm sure this was in the article. If not, see the MSNBC one [msnbc.com] (that I submitted this morning) with video and pics.

    Dancin Santa
  • Hello, single female geek here attracted by your mention of Nitrous Oxide.
  • i understand this *is* news for nerds, and all ....

    but i read about this a couple days ago from bbc, which i found out about from the bbc slashbox

    also from the slashbox: hubble detects star-less planets [bbc.co.uk]
    GM hypo-allergenic cats [bbc.co.uk]
    among others, all easily found in the bbc slashbox

    this just seems ... worthless, because its already on /., just in a slashbox
    --
    Brian Voils
    "A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in students."


  • Those scientisits can make a switch for COMMON SENSE , which the majority of the posters here seem to be sorely lacking.

    Uh... anyhow...

    Unfortunately, the only "fireflys" I've ever seen, are the fake ones at Disneyland.

    But here in the redwoods of California, we have this real cool crawly thing, that looks like an armoured caterpillar about two inches long, and it has blue glowing dots, two on each piece of "armour", for about eight to twelve per bug.

    One can only see them at the new moon, when it's pitch black under the redwood canopy, and one's eyes are dark adapted.

    But they are the coolest little things crawling around in the redwood duff around here at night, besides scorpions. I've never been able to identify them, any ideas?

    I was able to find this cool photo [elfornio.com] of a hillside covered with glowing caterpillers.

    We also have this waaay cool beautiful yellow/orange mushroom called the Jack-O-Lantern Omphalotus olivascens. It glows green/blue in the dark also, enough so, that one could read by the light it gives off!

    No matter what all the jaded losers think, nature is cool!

    -------------------
    Hey, Ho, Let's Go!
    R.I.P. Joey Ramone

  • Scientists have found the "switch" that allows a firefly to light up its body. The beetle flashes the "lantern" on its abdomen to attract a mate.

    Great, now if they wonder if they could turn their attention to the "switch" that would allow us to turn the light off in Bill Gates's body. That "lantern", or whatever it is he has shoved up his abdomen, is obviously fuelling his anti-social, monopolistic behaviour. And that's something that most people don't find very attractive.

  • I don't know... I think it would still be easier to "turn someone on" with some sweet talk than with a syringe full of Nitric Oxide..
  • So now I can tell me girlfriend: "Oh no... I was trying to suck out some Laughing Gas".

    Much better lie than what I was using before...

  • You and me baby ain't nothing but mammals... (Score:4)

    by screwballicus ( 313964 ) on Friday June 29, 2001 @03:54PM (#118860)
    Hey baby, did a nitric oxide molecule slip into your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
  • As I dimly recall from a TV documentary, scientists were equally suprised a while back to find that Nitrous Oxide was the switch for guy's erections.

    So logically, it follows that eating fireflies will give you an erection. Especially if you are a guy.

    Any volunteers for gathering hard data?

  • I don't see the point of this story on /., but if flashing bug's butts mean that much to you, here's the link to the original story in Science:

    http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/292/ 5526/2413a [sciencemag.org].

    Huzzah for another great mystery of life revealed...

  • ...a new source of long-lasting, organic, romantic lighting fixtures :) long-lasting? the little buggers only live 14 days as adults. and you thought changing a light bulb every few months was nasty... -=phalkin=-
  • In humans, the molecule is crucial to the dilation of blood vessels and the signalling that goes on between neurons in the brain. No wonder I always feel "light-headed". ;)
  • You kids have it too easy these days...
    Back in my day, we sat there on our porches and appreciated fireflies for what they were: magic.
    Now all this new-fangled "science" comes along and messes up the way it should be. Bah!
  • No, of course we didn't have days. We had to measur our time by grains of sand falling in an hourglass. Of course we didn't have sand yet because all that was laying around was boulders... Come to think about it, we really couldn't measure time at all. So, I wonder if this really was "back in the day," or just earlier this afternoon. I'm so confused now, I need a drink.
  • you had days? Why in my, uh,... etc.
  • that was pretty good.
  • GUI's are like diapers, everyone grows out of them.

    Then where do they keep their shit?

  • Three comments:

    1.Yes, I can now complete my life work: "The meaning of life"
    2. It was my lacking piece in my 10 jillion piece puzzle.
    3. I've devoted my life to figure this one out. Now I'm going to hang myself.
  • "This ability has allowed fireflies to evolve an elaborate courtship system based on flash communication. "

    I don't know about anyone else here, but I wouldn't want some stranger *flashing* me.

  • I may be wrong about this, but I dont believe anyone has inserted firefly genes into tobacco. I have seen the picture you speak of and I think that they used GFP (Green Flourescent Protein), a Cnidarian protein.

  • Hmm... (Score:3)

    by qxjit ( 461981 ) on Friday June 29, 2001 @02:27PM (#118873)
    Strange -- attracting women by flashing my butt never worked for me...
  • By that defintion anything with the suffix -ology qualify with the notable exceptions of astrology, numerology and scientology
  • thatll teach me not

    to

    preview

  • Yes, but with this solution comes a variety of unexpected problems, for instance widespread insomnia, drowsiness, a preoccupation with one's "on" button etc. I'm beginning to think that...aah, my ass is on fire. oh, phew.
  • ...News for Nerds, stuff that matters. The keyword is italicized.
  • Who cares whether they killed the bugs?

  • Re:Nitric Oxide? (Score:5)

    by Tuxinatorium ( 463682 ) on Friday June 29, 2001 @02:57PM (#118879) Homepage
    The article is talking about nitric oxide, chemical formula NO. Nitrous oxide, AKA laughing gas, is N2O. It's a completely different chemical.
  • Last surplus catalog I stared at had PS/2 socket lights for laptop use in the dark.

    My mobile lights up the keys in the evening.

    I WANT MY FINGERS TO GLOW (but only when I say so) and the currently-available techniques for soing so mostly involve running wires under my fingernails, which hurts.

    Please can someone whip up a batch of retrovirus to stick some switchable glowing into my fingers? Pretty please? I promise to wave my fingers around humourously in dark rooms full of stoners if you do?

  • Wow, I asked on the Linux kernel mailing list, and they weren't able to turn up anything. Have you submitted this patch to the Linux kernel mailing list?
  • Ummmm... Laughing gas is NitROUS, not NitRIC oxide... A small yet lethal difference of one oxygen atom. Don't be sniffing the nitric oxide now... :)
  • Yeah, in medicine we have known for a long time that (NO) binds to soluble guanilil cyclase to make cyclic GMP (similar to cyclic AMP), which then acts as an intracellular messenger. I assume the same thing happens to those little light-making bacteria... when they get lots of (NO) they make lots of cGMP and get all excited and make light and stuff... now if only I could do that... never need a flashlight again...
  • If you rub two fireflies together and throw them do you get simulated sticks? Or more fireflies?
  • So they shimmer and blink because they alternately pump nitric oxide first to their little light-making whatsits... and then to their little firefly-joy-more-firefly-making-whatsits?
  • A giant firefly for the SUN! Amazing! You know, this COULD work! Of course the constant blinking every second or so would really screw up our circadian rythms, but then again, we'd get a heck of a lot more eggs produced from our chickens...
  • No no no no.... you'll just digest the fireflies, and the NO will be consumed in your gut. What you have to do is collect a couple hundred fireflies, mash them into a pulp, and rub them all over your genitals... hey, this sounds kinky... might not even need women after all....?
  • If you REALLY want to know... NO...know...get it? It's a neurotransmitter that comes from the following metabolic pathway:

    Arginine --[NADPH->NADP+]--> N-omega-hydroxyarginine------> citruline + NO The enzyme is NOS... or nitric oxide sinthetase (makes sense doesn't it?). At least this is how it's produced in humans, and I assume it's fairly similar in fireflies... Being a neurotransmitter... produced in the nerves... them little bugs must have nerve endings for just this purpose, and the "switch" is actually inside their 'brains' (if you can call it a brain). Of course whether or not this is a volountary action, the turning on and off of the blink, remains to be seen as someone no doubt will soon claim to be an authority on firefly psychology... Does THIS answer your question?

  • I don't mean to nit-pick, but since we're on the topic of insects...

    I think that we will never "unlock the secrets of the human brain", even though we do (I guarantee) know almost all of the neurotransmitters and biochemical processes involved right now, this knowledge has come from animal research.

    The reason we will not progress much further than we are today is simple: we need to see a human brain in action, and be able to poke and prod it... experiment with it, cut little pieces out and mash them into a pulp, etc. The small problem is that no one (for some strange reason) wants to volounteer their perfectly healthy brain for a bit of poking and prodding. So we're basically stuck with reverse-engineering the human mind in a strictly theoretical sense, but no one is quite sure exactly how it works, and there's no possibility of testing. The anatomy.. and the actual wiring, fibers from this nucleus go here... and here.. etc, is well known and a (dreaded) topic of study for medical students everywhere.

    As a side note, the vast majority of the knowledge we DO have today comes from soldiers with varying degrees of brain injuries from combat wounds. "Oh... neat... the bullet went through here... and this one can't talk... this guy has a shell fragment THERE, and he can't sleep..." etc.

    But getting back to the topic... medicine has known about the existence of NO, and its signalling properties for many, many years... almost since the invention of nitroglycerine pills for heart problems...the firefly bit doesn't affect THIS branch of science all that much.

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