In this newest animated video from fellow Sciblogger Siouxsie Wiles (Infectious Thoughts) explains how fireflies* use bioluminescence to find love (or the firefly equivalent), and, well, food.

And it then goes on to explain how the chemical reaction used to produce that light, can be exploited to help us test for bacterial presence.  In your kitchen.  On your mobile phone.  In your food.

And in spacecraft assembly.  Watch the video to figure out why that’s necessary :)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUUytRoI-5g[/youtube]

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* Also known as lampyridiae. You can meet these wonderful creatures in Siouxsie first animation. Siouxsie makes the videos with Luke Harris, of Luke Harris Graphics.

** The name for that lovely glowey thing which they do.  This is, of course, the technical definition.