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How do you light up the night sky? The answer is by using electricity. But did you know that nature can glow (发光), too?
Scientists have found many glowing living things. Most of them live in the ocean. Some use their lights to talk to each other. Others use them to hunt, to mate (交配) or to protect themselves. The vampire squid (幽灵蛸), for example, uses a cloud of light to scare enemies.
Scientists around the world are looking at this kind of light for new ideas. In 2013, the US company Gleaux said it has created the world's first light-producing plant, the Daily Mail reported. It is a genetically-modified (转基因的) plant. It can glow like a firefly.
Alexander Krichevsky, the company's founder (创始人), and other scientists hope that in the future, glowing plants could replace lamps and glowing trees could light up highways. Krichevsky also hopes the technology could be used in farming. Farmers could know when their crops need water or are ready to be picked if they glow.
While Gleaux is working on glowing plants, the French company Glowee is trying to use glowing bacteria (细菌) to light up shop windows and street signs. It's the same type of bacteria that cause a type of squid to light up, New Scientist Online reported.
"Our goal is to change the way we produce and use light," said Glowee founder Sandra Rey. "We want to help reduce the 19 percent of electricity consumption (消耗量) that is used to produce light.