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Human Bioluminescence Facts
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Human Bioluminescence Facts

Gifographic | 7-14 yrs | Reading Pod, Animation

Humans Who Glow!

Humans emit light! And we’re not talking philosophically either. We actually, physically glow. Like we’re human glow worms. And it’s scientifically proven. Are you wondering how? Read on to find out.

Why do Humans Glow?

It has been scientifically proven that humans have bioluminescence just like jellyfish and dinoflagellates that is 1000x weaker than what our eyes can see. In fact, virtually all beings have a bit of bioluminescence. It’s thought to be a by-product of the metabolic chemical reaction in our cells involving free radicals.

Japanese researchers Masaki Kobayashi and Daisuke Kikuchi from the Tohoku Institute of Technology, along with Hitoshi Okamura have been able to capture this in these images from a new sensitive camera called the CCD – cryogenic charge-coupled device.

They did this by mapping the levels on the upper body throughout the waking day.

What they found is –

1. Humans emit more light in the afternoon.
2. The highest density of light was emitted from the face, specifically, the cheeks, forehead, and neck.
3. The light does not correlate to heat.

In the ‘light’ of this, one has to wonder if the hands and feet would also be as sensitive as they have the highest density of sensory neurons along with the face.

Another point worth pondering is why we emit light. Lightning bugs emit light to communicate and for mating purposes. What about us?

There’ve been reported cases of mysterious glowing humans that go way back. In the wake of this research however, those cases don’t seem as supernatural as they were once thought to be. Just imagine, how cool would it be if the light we emit was somehow strengthened, and we were somehow able to control it? Well, at the very least, sleeping in the dark won’t be a problem anymore.