You’ve been floating in the inky, cold depths of your ocean planet for a while now. Your tentacles are spread out wide, sensing the minimal light signatures of the world around you, but you’ve not sensed another creature until – there it is! A hypnotizing flash of pulsing light, undulating, glowing in orange and pink. It’s trying to tell you something. You follow it deeper into the trench.
A dive into the deep sea reveals twinkling lights in the midst of darkness. This light doesn’t come from the sun—sunlight can’t penetrate to these depths—it comes from the animals that live here.
Scientists call this living light show bioluminescence—when living organisms create their own light using a chemical reaction. You can find bioluminescent organisms in dark caves, in the deep oceans, or you can spot them at night if you’re lucky enough to spot fireflies.
There is also fluorescence, the luminosity of inorganic materials. Examples are the lume paint that makes your watch glow at night or the gasses that light up a neon sign.
What will light you up?
Bioluminescence in the deep sea
The Weeping Stones
Could you survive the real Twilight Zone?
Glow Worm Caves of New Zealand
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Cody Cobb, Spectral
In A Flash: Firefly Communication
Weird Killer of the Deep: The Anglerfish
Eduardo Kac, GFP Bunny
What makes neon signs glow?
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