The Beauty of Bioluminescence

We use light throughout our daily lives. The majority of the light we use and the majority of the light in the world come from heat energy. The only exception for this is luminescence. There are many types of luminescence however the major ones are bioluminescence, chemiluminescence and triboluminescence. If I were to redesign New York with a different kind of lighting it would be bioluminescence. Bioluminescence is the emission of light by a living organism such as fireflies and anglerfish. Bioluminescent animals are usual in the deep ocean using bioluminescence to attract preys or escape from their predator. These animals produce a chemical called luciferin which reacts with oxygen creating light. I would choose bioluminescence because it is efficiently better ecologically, economically and it is safe to use. If one were to be in contact bioluminescence, it wouldn’t cause any kind of reaction however with overexposure of light, you can get skin cancer. Bioluminescence is also a renewable light source and it doesn’t cost anything to get it. If we could somehow obtain luciferin from the bioluminescent animals than it would create light since it will just react with our air because of oxygen. New York City is filled with lighting such as Times Square. Times Square is probably the most environmentally unfriendly area in New York City. My first step in using bioluminescence would be replacing all the lights at Times Square. When you go to Times Square, the first things you see are illuminated billboards. However we don’t need billboards to be powered by regular light, we can use bioluminescence. Time Square alone costs a huge amount of money for New York City and using bioluminescence would reduce that cost exponentially. I believe bioluminescence would reduce crime. Many crimes at night happen in Central Park because it’s dark and not many parts of the Park are illuminated. However if we were to expose the trees with bioluminescence radiation it would make the trees glow. If the trees were glowing than Central Park would be illuminated throughout the night and no criminal would ever want to commit a crime in the light, it would increase their chance of being caught. Lighting the park with bioluminescence is environmentally safer and would save a lot of money for New York. We wouldn’t need any lamp posts in the park giving us more space. Using light from heat energy causes environmental problems. However using this natural light will reduce our carbon footprint. If I were to advertise bioluminescent lighting I would take out ads on cabs since cabs are on every block in New York City. I would take out an ad in the New York Times and New York Post and explain what bioluminescent lighting. However explaining it wouldn’t be enough; I would provide a demonstration and invite the public to come to see how bioluminescence works. I would definitely include in my ad that it is extremely cost efficient.