No, they're not the latest party drug. Most people are probably unaware that luminescent fungi even exist, let alone in at least 64 different species, all living in the danker regions of the world. But for those who are keeping track, the number is out of date, thanks to a mushroom expedition that revealed seven new species of 'shrooms in Asia, Central and South America and the Caribbean. Or more precisely, researchers found four brand-new species and three previously known species that were newly discovered to glow. They all emit a greenish-yellow light, possibly to lure nocturnal animals so they will eat the fungi and spread their spores, scientists said. The idea is almost poetic and so are the names given to two of the new species. Discoverer Dennis Desjardin of San Francisco State University, who published his findings in October in the journal Mycologia, named two of the glowing specimens Mycena luxaeterna and Mycena luxperpetua references to "eternal light" and "perpetual light," borrowed from Mozart's Requiem.
The Top 10 Everything of 2009
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Art Exhibitions
- Top 10 Awkward Moments
- Top 10 Best Business Deals
- Top 10 Breakups
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Children's Books
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Editorial Cartoons
- Top 10 Facebook Stories
- Top 10 Fashion Faux Pas
- Top 10 Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Ideas
- Top 10 Heroes
- Top 10 iPhone Apps
- Top 10 Late-Night Jokes
- Top 10 Magazine Covers
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Movies
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 News Stories
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Oddball News Stories
- Top 10 Pariahs
- Top 10 Pictures of the Year
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Scientific Discoveries
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 T-Shirt-Worthy Slogans
- Top 10 TV Ads
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Tweets
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 Untruths
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Viral Videos
- Top 10 Worst Biz Deals
TIME charts the highs and lows of the past year in 50 wide-ranging lists