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Gold Nanoparticles Turn Trees Into Streetlights

Posted by samzenpus on from the elf-approved dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Street lights are an important part of our urban infrastructure — they light our way home and make the roads safe at night. But what if we could create natural street lights that don't need electricity to power them? A group of scientists in Taiwan recently discovered that placing gold nanoparticles within the leaves of trees causes them to give off a luminous reddish glow. The idea of using trees to replace street lights is an ingenious one — not only would it save on electricity costs and cut CO2 emissions, but it could also greatly reduce light pollution in major cities."

4 of 348 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Ha! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I want an Asian girlfriend. I want one so fucking badly. ;_;

    Every night I imagine finding myself a sweet Asian girl who just got dumped by her cruel and sadistic boyfriend. And I would take her into my home and introduce her to American home cooking. And at first she would be all shy and polite with her head bowed and expect me to abuse her like her Asian boyfriends, but I wouldn't. I would get her on her feet, allow her to stand tall and let her know it was okay to look me in the eye. And she would start trembling and crying and breaking down in my arms and I would just hug her and kiss her and let her know that no man would ever lay a harmful hand on her ever again.

    Then I would teach her the Western concepts of freedom and self-determination. And I would make love to her tenderly and she would be so grateful for a man that actually cares about her pleasure and her hopes and dreams for once. She would become a successful musician or businesswoman and we would raise beautiful Eurasian kids together. ;_;

  2. Genetically Modified Broccoli Shrieks Its Benefits by jordan314 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    In other news, Genetically Modified Broccoli Shrieks Its Benefits At Shoppers... http://www.theonion.com/audio/genetically-modified-broccoli-shrieks-its-benefits,18415/ (warning, audio autoplays)

  3. Re:Ha! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    wuss

  4. Re:Ha! by rthille · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Does that mean I can stab you in the chest with a gold knife? :-)

    --
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