Queen Of Taking L's

Mario Kart Wii has a very bizarre difference between versions whereby in the Italian and Korean versions only, the game seems to have been adjusted for light sensitivity.

Left: Luigi being repeatedly overtaken in the US English version. Right: Luigi being repeatedly overtaken in the Korean version.

Whenever a racer's position changes, the position indicator flashes white in nearly all language versions of the game (US English, UK English, Japanese, Canadian French, European French, German, Latin American Spanish and European Spanish). However, in the Italian and Korean versions, the flash is removed, causing the animation to appear more subtle.

While it is relatively common for such adjustments to be made for versions released later (such as the Korean version), the Italian version was released as part of the European disc, so it was finalized at the same time as all other European language versions. This presents an odd potential scenario where it was specifically the Italian localizer who looked at the animation, decided it was too bright, and removed the flash while not telling any other Nintendo of Europe colleagues, or telling them and them deciding against it. Then, the Korean localizer could have examined them all, decided the Italian localizer's idea was worth repeating, and done the same in that version.

Alternatively, this could have been some inexplicable glitch that only appeared in those two versions somehow, which would be even more notable.

Source: B_squo

The conclusion was "this must be solarpunk" and I cannot emphasize how incorrect that is.

Whether or not this particular experimentation leads to less harmful man-made lighting, it isn't solarpunk.

Solarpunk is technology and infrastructure engineered to work in harmony with nature and community.

Changing nature to better fit human wants and needs is fundamentally human.

Every vegetable you've ever eaten is the product of humans changing nature to better fit human wants.

I don't know that bioluminescent plants are a function solution to anything and I'm sure there are a number if very valid reasons that utmost caution should be taken with their potential implementation, but there is nothing 'not in harmony with nature' about messing with plant genetics.

Thank paleoindigeous genetic engineers from mezo/South America for the existence or corn, for example:

I also want to note: I think the research OP is talking about is actually from Europe, because I am aware of both a French and a Swedish research project on this topic. And admittedly, when that Swedish one released (that was in 2018, I think) I was also not fully sold, because it felt fairly gimmicky. But in the test areas where they implemented it a bunch of things happened over the test period. Distress in wild animals went down, air quality got better, and a bunch of other stuff. And now there is a project in France testing something similar since... 2023, I think?

And, yes. The general goal of those projects is basically to say: "Here is a thing where humans are negatively influencing nature. We cannot change that we are in those areas, but we can lessen the negative influence we have. Let's try this way."

Solarpunk is not about like... going back to the neolithic. It is about developing technology in a way that we can better live with nature. And this is doing that.

I do not even get OP's issue here. Like, having poles filled with water and bioluminiscent algae or fungi is not negatively impact the algae, bacteria, or fungi. Because algae, bacteria, and fungi, for the lack of a nervous system, quite literally do not care whether they grew in the ocean or in a bioluminiscent pole. But we know that this light is less disturbing to wild animals. We have shown that. Because light pollution is right now as much of an issue in some areas as other forms of pollution. So finding ways to reduce light pollution is very important.