In the late 1990s, marine biologist Steven Haddock paid a visit to fellow scientist Osamu Shimomura at his laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The two researchers shared an obsession with bioluminescence: light produced by chemical reactions in the bodies of living things—most famously the firefly, but also in fungi and a multitude of ocean creatures. At one point during their meeting, Haddock recalls, Shimomura poured what appeared to be large sesame seeds out of a jar and into his hand, dribbled some water onto them, and crushed them into a paste in his fist. Then he shut off the lights. His palm glowed a transfixing blue, as though it held a fairy.
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