Bioluminescent Algae Make This Necklace Glow in the Dark

This necklace may look like a clear orb during the day, but turn off the lights and it glows a vivid blue, thanks to tiny marine organisms harvested from a molecular biology lab.

High-tech culinary artists Bompas & Parr worked with a molecular biologist to grow the bioluminescent algae that make the necklace glow in the dark. It’s filled with dinoflagellates, teeny sea creatures that glow neon blue (and the same marine organisms that light up the toy dinosaur we featured over the holidays).

During red tides, an abundance of these dinoflagellates occasionally make ocean waves shine blue at night. The blue flash is the creature’s mechanical response to stress, possibly as a way to attract other predators to attack whatever is eating it, and can be triggered by the movement of waves—or in this case, the movement of the necklace.

The necklace is part of a collaboration with London-based jeweler Goldie Rox. Called The Mermaid’s Lunchbox, the pendant goes for £2000 (roughly $2850).

[h/t WIRED]

All images courtesy Bompas & Parr.