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Could this be the best ever use for a deceased
jellyfish? A bright spark has found an ingenious use for the corpses of
the sea creatures: making them into glow-in-the-dark lamps.
U.S. firm The Amazing Jellyfish (theamazingjellyfish.com) take the
bioluminescent bodies of creatures that have died of natural causes and
encase them in resin, thus preserving not just their bodies, but also
their incredible glow-in-the-dark properties.
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Thanks to the phosphur proteins in their bodies - part of the defence
mechanism that they use to frighten predators - jellyfish absorb light
naturally, and emit it with an ethereal blueish glow when under darkened
conditions.
After a jellyfish dies, the firm freeze its body using liquid nitrogen,
which they then set in crystalline resin - a special sort of resin that
can withstand working at ultra low temperatures - creating a cast of the
body, which is set in an ovoid mould shaped like the resulting lamp.
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No extra light is needed - the light the jellyfish emit in a darkened
room has been absorbed during the daylight hours.
However, some of the lamps come with a special base that can add an
eerie glow to the jellyfish so that the light can be used as a more
traditional light too.
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The lamps are made with a variety of different jellyfish breeds, from
the more common blue or yellow jellyfish, which are made into lamps
costing around £20 to £25 ($25 to £29) to the Red Devil Medusa, which
sells for around £110 ($169.99), or a 'rare blue green' jellyfish for
£115 ($179.99).
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For the squeamish, it is worth pointing out that the
transparent resin, crystalline epoxy, is strong and shatterproof, so
will not break if dropped.
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