“Perfect Light”

IF YOU have ever touched an electric light bulb that has been on for a while, you know that it can get very hot. The heat produced by the bulb results from wasted energy. A typical light bulb gives off only 10 percent of its energy as light, while 90 percent is wasted as heat. In comparison, the tiny light-producing insect called the firefly (see above, enlarged) is nearly 100 percent efficient.

Fireflies waste so little energy as heat that the light they produce has been termed “perfect light.” How do they do it? The abdomen of a firefly contains an organic substance known as luciferin. When oxygen is drawn into the abdomen through a tube called the abdominal trachea, it mixes with luciferin, and the resulting chemical reaction gives off a pale-yellow to reddish-green glow.

The cells that produce the firefly’s light also contain uric-acid crystals, which help to reflect the light away from the insect’s abdomen. Scientists say that fireflies use their light to attract mates and that different species of fireflies flash different patterns and rhythms.

Would you not agree that the way in which these tiny creatures are made gives praise to their Creator, Jehovah God? Yes, as the psalmist declared, “every breathing thing​—let it praise Jah.”​—Psalm 150:6.

[Picture Credit Line on page 31]

© Darwin Dale/Photo Researchers, Inc.