During General Physiology tutorial on Wednesday, we got to play with fireflies!

They're sea fireflies actually; and different from land fireflies, they emit blue light, instead of yellow/orange light, because of the enzyme luciferase.

First, we ground the dried (dead) sea fireflies until they became powder. When the light was turned off, we added droplets of water. In the darkened room, you could hear cries of ''Wah..", "Ooh.."..

Because...almost immediately when water came into contact with the powedered fireflies, you could see fluorescent blue light glowing from it, until it became dim and disappeared completely.

It reminds me of the trip to the Selangor river during Form 3. i remembered vividly of seeing the countless fireflies along the river, all around me. The whole place looked like Christmas has come early with the trees decorated with small, blinking lights.

The whole thing seemed so magical at that time. That's what i like about glow-in-the-dark stuff. =]