Fungi- ancient bulbs?

[+DieChecker]

Sure they did. It's called a person.

Power source = Whip?

I thought though that it was determined that olive oil burns soot-free and that he AE had access to other similar quality oils.

I believe that has been shown to be experimentally true.

The ancient may have had another source and that is from what was later called Bologna stones, it was rediscovered a few hundred years ago but may have been known to earlier cultures also - but that is speculation.

http://www.schweizer...escent_material

The glowing Baloney stone? Is this a prank?

[Ichihara]

I think Ichihara meant the lamps, rather than the mirrors. Lamps would certainly be more dangerous than fungi.

It was an interesting idea, Ichihara. Sadly no records of it exist so it will remain just an idea. It was a novel idea though. I hadn't thought of such a possibility before. These glowing fungi are not common knowledge. This is actually the first I've heard about the glowing wood fungus. I knew there were mushrooms that glow, but they would be very fragile and short lived I would think. You couldn't really keep them around for any length of time. Probably not much fungus growth in Egypt, though. Rather dry conditions. They also didn't have much wood.

as most of the ideas it isnt new just recycled. its already in novels.

from wiki:

In the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the characters Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer use foxfire as a source of light in order to dig a tunnel.

[Ichihara]

The ancient may have had another source and that is from what was later called Bologna stones, it was rediscovered a few hundred years ago but may have been known to earlier cultures also - but that is speculation.

http://www.schweizer...escent_material

you can buy figures made from luminescent stones in some tourists destinations.

[taniwha]

I heard from someone who ate a 'magic' type of mushroom that his pupils enlarged and he was able to see in the darkness no problem at all so yes it might be possible.

[aquatus1]

The problem with shrooms is that your not guaranteed that what you are seeing is actually real.

[+Noteverythingisaconspiracy]

I agree that clean burning lamps, followed by a good old scrubbing of the walls, is probably the most likely explanation.

[stereologist]

I concur with Swede on the dim light from foxfire. I have found it a few times int he woods, but only in dark conditions where I am hiking at night without a flashlight. It would not be possible to read by that dim light. In both cases the wood was under a heavy canopy of leaves that prevented any light from stars or the Moon from hitting the forest floor.

I believe that the glowing stones are actually phosphorescent pieces that glow after being exposed to sunlight. I have a few specimens myself but the length of time mine glow in the dark after exposure to light is short.

Edited August 11, 2014 by stereologist

[Hanslune]

Power source = Whip?

I believe that has been shown to be experimentally true.

The glowing Baloney stone? Is this a prank?

Nope they really exist and were called Bologna stones (barium sulfate) in previous centuries. The previous link is to study where they think they figure out how it glows scientifically. I know about them as my wife's ancestor wrote about using them (in the 1830's).

[Gingitsune]

Myth busters did an episode on the mirrors and they were fairly unsuccessful. They determined that you needed something to disperse the light rather than just focusing mirrors.

They do that with water in cola plastic bottle in the slums:

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23536914

Of course it works only when daylight is available, but with water in a basin in the room to light and mirrors to lead light to destination, maybe there's something they could have done. Athough that's a big "if", lamps are more likely and less complicated to operate and put in place.