1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:05,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:10,440 Speaker 1: I Heeart Radio. Hi. My name is Robert Lamb and 3 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: this is the Artifact, a short form series from Stuff 4 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:17,640 Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on particular objects, ideas, 5 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: and moments in time. Once upon a time, a rice 6 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:28,360 Speaker 1: dealer of Shaozing Province of Zijan had to cross a 7 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:32,560 Speaker 1: yellow muddy canal in which many persons had been suffocated. 8 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 1: As he rode across it on his buffalo, a black 9 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,279 Speaker 1: hand rose from the mud to grasp his foot. As 10 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: he drew up his legs, the hand seized the hoof 11 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: of the buffalo and held it fast. The rider called 12 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:49,760 Speaker 1: for help, and after much effort, the buffalo was dragged out. 13 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: An old broom was found attached to its body. The 14 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: broom was so putrid and offensive that it was hardly 15 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: possible to approach it. When it was struck with dicks, 16 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 1: it made a moaning sound, and black blood trickled from it. 17 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:07,480 Speaker 1: Knives were brought and the thing was cut off and burnt, 18 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:11,760 Speaker 1: but it left an evil stench for some time. Since then, 19 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:15,839 Speaker 1: no more people were suffocated in the yellow mud canal. 20 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,960 Speaker 1: These are the words of folklorist Gerald Willoughby Meade from 21 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: his n book Ghosts and Vampire Tales of China. In it, 22 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: he writes of various superstitions and traditions involving wooden utensils, 23 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 1: mainly in Chinese traditions, but he also compares them to 24 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: various Western superstitions as well. He writes of a Chinese 25 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: tale concerning a length of rotten rope so haunted that 26 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: it bled when shopped. He also writes of a haunted 27 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 1: wooden pillow that takes on a shadowy humanoid form. Their 28 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: tradition also includes tales of tree and plant ghosts, but 29 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: inanimate objects of organic origin are especially noteworthy. This connection, 30 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:02,000 Speaker 1: he contends, may be due to the fact that quote 31 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: at certain stages of putrification would is slightly phosphorescent in 32 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: the dark, unquote. When such wooden objects are associated with 33 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:16,600 Speaker 1: the dead, he contends, supernatural powers may be inferred. Indeed, 34 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:19,799 Speaker 1: Sir Isaac Newton once wrote a phosphorescence in rotten wood 35 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 1: and residue of rotting wood or fungus on an owl's 36 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 1: wings have been discussed as one possible explanation for some 37 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:32,040 Speaker 1: sightings of the legendary willow the Wisp, and indeed this 38 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:36,360 Speaker 1: also calls to mind the words of Tongue Dynasty poet 39 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: Lehu quote owls that have lived a hundred years turned 40 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:46,079 Speaker 1: forest demons laugh wildly as an emerald fire leaps from 41 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:51,320 Speaker 1: their nests. Certainly, mushrooms and decaying would go hand in hand, 42 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: and many varieties of fungi glow in the dark, including 43 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:58,920 Speaker 1: jack o' lantern mushrooms and honey mushrooms. But trees do 44 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 1: not need fungus to low. Necessarily, lignant polymers that are 45 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 1: especially important to the cell walls of wood and bark, 46 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: as it turns out, have naturally phosphorescent properties, as explored 47 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:16,360 Speaker 1: in the two thousand twenty one paper Sustainable after glow 48 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:21,120 Speaker 1: materials from lignant inspired by wood phosphorescence, a joint Chinese 49 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:24,519 Speaker 1: British study published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science 50 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: quote basswood naturally and weakly phosphorescence, releasing light for a 51 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: few milliseconds due to lignant being trapped within a three 52 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: D matrix of cellulose. This bioluminescence, like some fungi by aluminescence, 53 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: is often indistinct to the naked eye, but the researchers 54 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: here discuss how immobilizing the lignant in an acrylic polymer 55 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: could intensify the glow, potentially opening the door for a 56 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 1: new generation of non toxic phosphorescent materials for use in 57 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: various enterprises. And so the faint green light of haunted 58 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 1: utensils and ghost trees may someday into the world of 59 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:16,159 Speaker 1: medical imaging, glowing paints, and luminous textiles. Tune in for 60 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:20,919 Speaker 1: additional episodes of The Artifact or The Monster Fact each week. 61 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:24,720 Speaker 1: As always, you can email us at contact at stuff 62 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your 63 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: Mind is a production of I Heart Radio. For more 64 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 1: podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 65 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:43,719 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.