[/floatl]Yomiuri: Firefly's luminescent efficiency half of believed figure
It has long been believed that the firefly's luminescent efficiency is extraordinarily high even compared to that of cutting-edge technology. But it is actually only 41 percent of maximum efficiency at most, which is only half of the previously believed figure, a recent study by Japanese researchers has shown...The experiments showed a 41-percent probability that one "photon"--the minimum unit of light--would be produced by one molecule of the light-emitting chemical. In 1959, a U.S. researcher confirmed--utilizing a different method--that the firefly's luminescent efficiency was 88 percent. Since then, the result has been widely accepted for nearly 50 years...The firefly's 41 percent is still higher than that of such human technology, leaving it in the No. 1 position among living organisms, according to the Japanese researchers...more...
