Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Nighttime Skywriting

Use chemiluminescence to write at night
  (+18, -2)(+18, -2)
(+18, -2)
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The plane would be equipped with two chemical tanks whose contents are blended just before being ejected through nozzles. Using the same non-toxic ingredients as glowsticks, these particulates would glow at night, providing an advertising medium to spectators at fireworks shows, outdoor rock concerts, and other nighttime gatherings.
Cedar Park, Aug 29 2010

Katherine Stinson http://www.ctie.mon...ve/stinson_bio.html
She used flares, though. [jutta, Aug 29 2010]

Glow sticks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightstick
Cold light [8th of 7, Aug 29 2010]

Binary chemical weapon http://en.wikipedia...ary_chemical_weapon
Make it up as you go along .... [8th of 7, Aug 29 2010]

Other uses for this material Bubbling_20Turn_20Signals
[normzone, Aug 29 2010]

Radithor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radithor
Lovely stuff ... [8th of 7, Sep 16 2010]

[link]






       this is cool, if it can work! [+]
xandram, Aug 29 2010
  

       Tentative (+)   

       Just what are the 'non-toxic' ingredients in this glowing stuff people are going to inhale? and would it still glow if aerosolized?   

       // 'non-toxic' ingredients //   

       Aaach, who cares ? DO IT !   

       [+]
8th of 7, Aug 29 2010
  

       //Aaach, who cares ?// Dot's not my department, says .... [8th_of_7] did you assimilate Werner von Braun recently? I don't think you've quite digested him yet.
mouseposture, Aug 29 2010
  

       I'd like some experiments to see whether chemiluminescence light enough to stay suspended in the air will be bright enough to be noticed from the ground.
jutta, Aug 29 2010
  

       So would we.   

       <link>   

       PS Flares are good, too....
8th of 7, Aug 29 2010
  

       //whether chemiluminescence light enough to stay suspended in the air will be bright enough to be noticed from the ground.//   

       Dividing the chemiluminescent gloop into fine droplets shouldn't diminish its visibility. In other words, if you can see a glowstick, you should equally be able to see the same amount of material in the form of a mist, as long as there is the same amount of material along the same eyeline, if you see what I mean.   

       The only problem would be if the droplets evaporated (which could probably be overcome if it were a problem - add a high concentration of a humectant such as glycerol), or if the reaction were adversely affected by oxygen (which it isn't).
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 29 2010
  

       Before WW2, Porton Down developed "thickened" HS (mustard 'gas', blistering agents) suitable for aerial spray at both low and high altitude. Winston Churchill was very much in favour of deploying low spray mustard against any German landing and continually pressured the Ministry of Supply for greater production of chemical agents.   

       The technology is still available, so appropriate gelling agents and dispensing tanks with mixing nozzles for 2-part systems (developed by the US and USSR for fluoroalcohol binary nerve agents) are also Baked.   

       Easy.
8th of 7, Aug 29 2010
  

       "Oh, lookit. It says 'Eat Plochman's Mustard' .... oh, God, it burns, it burns!"
baconbrain, Aug 29 2010
  

       Yeah, all that good stuff, yeah ....   

       And you though Capsaicin was "hot" ..
8th of 7, Aug 29 2010
  

       > Dividing the chemiluminescent gloop into fine droplets shouldn't diminish its visibility.   

       But consider how light passes through a bottle of water much more readily than through the same amount of water dispersed as a fog. Some sort of refraction and bouncing around happens to the light at the droplet surface that doesn't happen in the interior. So, I think it's possible that the amount of light emitted by a cloud of a luminescent liquid is proportional to its surface, not to its volume. Or maybe the gaps between the droplets are big enough for that not to matter. It might depend on the density of the cloud or the size of the droplets.
jutta, Aug 30 2010
  

       This is a beautiful summer night idea. Many +++++'s
blissmiss, Aug 30 2010
  

       Even if it didn't glow, you could use reflective stuff and hit it with a spotlight from the ground.
bungston, Aug 30 2010
  

       // it's possible that the amount of light emitted by a cloud of a luminescent liquid is proportional to its surface, not to its volume.//   

       I'm not so sure. Imagine a small spherical volume sitting in the middle of a glowstick. The light it emits can travel in any direction, either towards you or away. Maybe one photon in a million (if you're viewing from a distance) travels toward your eye and gets seen.   

       Now explode the glowstick, so that you have fine mist (but with the same amount of liquid in your line of site). Consider now one droplet, somewhere in the middle of this mist. It will give out photons in random directions (as before), but now each photon will be scattered many times before it leaves the cloud. However, as it starts out in a random direction, and is then scattered randomly, it should still have the same one-in-a-million chance of eventually travelling toward your eye.   

       Methinks.
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 30 2010
  

       Wethinks
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 30 2010
  

       Meh, forget chemiluminesence, just write it in something flammable, and then ignite as soon as the plane is well away. It won't last long, but it should be extremely visible for a few seconds.
MechE, Aug 30 2010
  

       And audible ...   

       Post that !
8th of 7, Aug 30 2010
  

       [+] MechE, that's a great retrofit.
nomadic_wonderer, Aug 30 2010
  

       Hi there wonderer!!! Glad you wondered back.
blissmiss, Aug 30 2010
  

       + Eat at Joes!   

       If you heat the glowstick stuff it shines all the brighter.
Zimmy, Sep 15 2010
  

       Why would anybody bone this? Hope it's not one of those people who think condensation trails are a government plot to spray chemicals that make squirrels jittery or something. [+] to offset that erroneous bone.
doctorremulac3, Sep 15 2010
  

       First, show me a nontoxic glowstick.   

       AFAIK such a thing does not exist.
PhaseShifter, Sep 16 2010
  

       <pedant>   

       First, define "toxic".   

       <pedant>
8th of 7, Sep 16 2010
  

       //First, show me a nontoxic glowstick. // The contents of glowsticks are not especially toxic. Relax.
MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 16 2010
  

       Another annonymous sniper bone? What's not to love? They're not talking about spraying radium here. I don't think.
doctorremulac3, Sep 16 2010
  

       // spraying radium //   

       You reckon ?   

       <link>
8th of 7, Sep 16 2010
  
      
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