Tag Archives: glowing

Glowing Ceramic Tardigrade Night Light

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Tardigrades (aka water bears) are some of the most resilient animals on earth, able to survive even the harshest conditions, from extreme heat and cold, to air and food deprivation, to radiation. They’re practically unkillable, so what better animal to keep a watchful eye over you at night than this $16 Tardigrade Night Night from Archie McPhee? Sure, its mouth looks like a nightmare, but that will keep all the other monsters away.

Measuring 4-1/8″ x 2-1/4″, the night light is a traditional ceramic white when not in use but glows a phosphorescent green when turned on (powered by two LR44 batteries, included). Of course, being over four inches long, it’s significantly larger than actual tardigrades, which top out at around 0.5mm full grown. Those are some tiny bears! I still wouldn’t poke one, though, just for the record.

This kind of reminds me of those light-up Hasbro Glo Worm plushies from the ’80s. I think I might still have mine in a box in the basement somewhere. Just don’t listen to my wife if she tries to tell me it’s not in a box because I sleep with it every night. She’s lying. The same goes for whatever she says about my blankie.

This glass orb filled with bio-luminescent plankton is brighter than my future…

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If you’ve ever had bioluminescent beaches on your bucket list (I know I have), Pyrofarms’ Bio Orb may just be the closest thing to actually being around those bioluminescent waters. The orb, which comes with its own pouch filled with seawater and living bioluminescent plankton (dinoflagellates, if you’re fancy) that activate when moved. Just place the liquid-filled orb on a window that gets enough sunlight and the plankton get charged through the day. Give them a gentle swirl at night (or in darkness) and they glow with that incredible blue aura, looking like you’ve got galaxies suspended in the glass orb. The orb even comes with its own octopus stand, looking like some Kraken carrying a magical sphere of sorts.

The dinoflagellates are living organisms that follow the circadian clock, like humans, sensing when its night time (past sunset). The closer it gets to midnight, the more they shine. All you need to do is care for them by keeping the Dino in moderate lighting during the day so that the plankton charge themselves with nutrients for your night-light-show!

Designer: Pyrofarms

Glow Lamp Isn’t a Jet Pack, But It Does Hover

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Growing up, I was convinced that by the time i was “old” I wouldn’t have to walk anywhere. My jetpack would fly me wherever I wanted to go. I was also convinced that we would be living on the Moon and while my jetpack and lunar house have yet to happen, at least we are starting to get things that levitate. This cool floating lamp is called “Glow.”

glow_levitating_lamp_1

As the crystalline light levitates it rotates too. The crystal form is some kind of synthetic material, but it still looks cool. The lamp offers two modes: a task light with 400 lumens, or a softly glowing mood light. Power comes from lithium batteries and a on a full charge the light lasts 80 hours. The crystal can also be used as a portable light away from the levitating base.

The crowdfunding for the Glow lamp hasn’t kicked off yet, but I want one of these for my desk pretty badly. The project will launch on November 7 and there is no word on how much it will cost right now.

It rather reminds me of the scene in Harry Potter where they go in for the feast and all the candles are floating around.

Glowing Sea Turtle Discovered During Night Dive

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You won’t see me swimming in the lake or the ocean. I’m not fond of putting my face where animals poop and might bite me. You certainly wouldn’t get me to go on a night dive near the Solomon Islands where you have to use bright lights to ward off crocodiles that might want to snack on your soft innards.

Researchers were doing just that when the ultraviolet light they were carrying spotted something very interesting.

glow-turtle-tbzoom in

The team captured what it believes are first ever images of a glowing sea turtle. This endangered hawkbill turtle doesn’t have bio-luminescence, which is the ability of an animal to produce its own light. Rather the turtle is bio-fluorescent. That means it reflects UV light as a different color, such as red, green, and orange as you see in the video below.

Further research showed that other hawkbill turtles in the area have the same glowing properties. The scientists plan further investigation to see if hawkbills in other locations have the same biofluorescent properties.

[via National Geographic]

Make Your Own Glowing Gambit Playing Card

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Whether you are cosplaying or really trying to live your life like the Ragin’ Cajun, you need one thing first. Cool playing cards that you can throw. Well, now you can learn how to make some. They even glow warmly like your love for Rogue.

gambit cardmagnify

To make one, you will need materials like: card stock, a pencil and sketch pens, plexiglass, a red LED, a 3V lithium battery and a few other things. When you are done, you will have an awesome playing card. All you will need after that is to work on your Cajun accent.

You can find the instructions over at Instructables. Impress your Cherie!

[via This Is Why I'm Broke]