stories
stories that explore our relationship to fireflies and nature at night
alone in the park
Alone at night in a National Park closed to the public during a worldwide pandemic, the author is immersed in a living forest breathing lights and sounds.
What other creatures roam these woods in the dark?
a mathematical creature lurking in firefly swarms
A mathematical prophecy, the elusive Chimera, finds its unexpected realization in nature 20 years after its discovery in equations.
And it pops up in the most innocent of places: a firefly swarm.
unison and dissension
The first reports of "fireflies flashing in unison", over 100 years ago, were received with skepticism.
We delve into the early literature on natural synchrony and attempts to explain, or dismiss, this bewildering phenomenon.
[coming soon]
borderlands
Chasing fireflies in Arizona, merely a couple miles north of the Mexico border.
Despite its apparent placidity, it's a complex and somehow tormented area, crisscrossed by abundant wildlife, but also carved by furtive human activity along and across the border, from immigrants to mules to border patrol.
[coming soon]
everything is illuminated
Fireflies flash, but many other things glow in the dark, if you can let your eyes adapt to the obscurity.
We review the various forms of bioluminescence known to nightly wanderers.
[coming soon]
