Military eyes glowing secrets of fireflies, others

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100911/ap_on_re_us/us_fireflies_military_research

Summary – This article is about the military-sponsored research of bioluminescence, which is an organism’s ability to illuminate with its own body chemistry. Common organisms that can do this are fireflies, lantern fish, and dinoflagellates. If the military were able to do this as well, it could create many opportunities for them, such as biodegradable landing markers and methods to track supplies and weapons on the battlefield. Since bioluminescence creates light without heat, it would be useful for the military to mark locations that would be unnoticeable by enemies with heat-seeking technology. This light is called far red, which is the same used in TV remote control signals.

Opinion – I think the idea of the military using bioluminescence is really cool. I have always wondered how fire flies lit up by themselves, and it would be really interesting if the researchers could figure it out. The thing I find most interesting is that they make light without using heat, so military locations marked with this bioluminescence wouldn’t be noticeable to enemies. I also think that this could help protect the country when the soldiers are fighting overseas, because the military would be more informed of troop and weapon placements on the battlefield, and they would be less likely to make blunders. This is my opinion on the article of the military using bioluminescence.