Summer is here.. or near (UV light fun)

jellydonut · May 21, 2011

And what's more summer than a G&T? Okay, I've cheated. It's not summer here, it's barely spring! Anyway, that's not the point of this thread, this is:

If you've got a UV light, try shining it at a bottle or glass of tonic water. Funky! It's the quinine in the tonic that brings on the effect, so it needs to be actual tonic water, not just flavored soda.

Cataract · May 24, 2011

oooOOOoo... Will definitely buy some tonic when I get my UV light a few weeks from now....

mhphoto · May 24, 2011

Even more fun—get some fresh (fresh is important, nothing canned) spinach. Get a clear bowl of isopropyl alcohol (70% is fine, 91% is better). Put the spinach in the alcohol and bruise the leaves. The chlorophyll will leech out into the liquid. After the alcohol is sufficiently green, take the leaves out and get any chunks out. Savor the green liquid, then blast it with UV.

The chlorophyll turns a thick, vibrant coral color under UV light. Pics of my experiment to follow once I find them.

mhphoto · May 24, 2011

jellydonut · May 25, 2011

That same effect can be appreciated by lighting up the leaves of plants you may have in the house. Some just turn mushy, but others are vibrant pink and red.

Cataract · May 25, 2011

Forgot to mention I have some fluorescent tape on order. I'll be putting some of that on my flashlight tackle box, plus some reflective tape (geez I sound like a kid now!) just to make sure I won't be looking for it in the long grass when I go out for test runs. Some tapes (or just plain colors) turn brighter with a lower Frequency UV (from blue to 285, to 275 and to 265 nm) and others become less bright. I won't be doing this, but someone with enough time on their hands could use that to paint hidden images.

nbp · May 25, 2011

jellydonut said:
That same effect can be appreciated by lighting up the leaves of plants you may have in the house. Some just turn mushy, but others are vibrant pink and red.

I believe these effects of leaves and especially flowers are basically like landing lights for bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects that can see in UV. We see one thing, and they see a very different set of colors and designs that direct them toward their target.

Summer is here.. or near (UV light fun)

jellydonut

Enlightened

Cataract

Flashlight Enthusiast

mhphoto

Newly Enlightened

mhphoto

Newly Enlightened

jellydonut

Enlightened

Cataract

Flashlight Enthusiast

nbp

Flashaholic

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