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#bioluminescence — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #bioluminescence, aggregated by home.social.

  1. 💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🦈💡 A team of marine biologists measured the glow of eight kitefin #sharks caught off #NewZealand, recording brightness, #color, and shine direction.

    Most of the #light matches classic #camouflage, but the glow spreads sideways toward the nose and fins. The researchers read this as a biological searchlight, illuminating prey in the dark seafloor, while the bright dorsal fin defies any camouflage role entirely.

    👉 sciencealert.com/biological-se

    #bioluminescence #ocean #sea #kitefin #marinebiology #science #hunting #evolution #underwater #biology #nature #wildlife #fish #research

  2. Dr. Steven Haddock discusses how bioluminescent and fluorescent molecules, genes borrowed from jellyfish and others, have become powerful tools in biotech and biomedical research.
    From lighting up nervous systems to advancing medical imaging, this conversation shows how nature’s brilliance fuels human innovation.
    🎧 Listen here: embedded.fm/episodes/530

    Here's an excerpt:

    #OceanScience #DeepSea #Bioluminescence #EmbeddedSystems
    #mbari #jellyfish #author #biology #engineering #embedded #podcast

  3. From bioluminescent "living highlighters" in cancer research to deep-sea creatures exuding glowing green plumes, the ocean floor is full of wonder. 🌊✨
    Marine biologist Dr. Steven Haddock joins us to discuss these and more.

    👉 Read the show transcript here: embedded.fm/transcripts/530.

    #Podcast #OceanScience #Biotechnology #DeepSea #Bioluminescence #EmbeddedSystems
    #mbari #jellyfish #author #biology #engineering #embedded #podcast

  4. Mar de ardora

    Pontevedra, Spain
    Bioluminescence known in Galicia as mar de ardora illuminates the beach of A Lanzada. The phenomenon is caused by marine microorganisms that emit light when the water is agitated, amid the accumulation of microalgae and rising sea temperatures.

    Photograph: Elena Fernandez/EPA

    #photography
    #bioluminescence
    #Spain
    #beach
    #AltText

  5. Omphalotus nidiformis (ghost fungi) in the Dandenong Ranges, Victoria, Australia

    More about me & prints
    linktr.ee/steven.sandner

    Aperture: f/4
    Shutter Speed: 240s
    ISO: 400

    #Bioluminescence #Mushrooms #Forest

  6. 💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🪲✨ #Fireflies are actually bioluminescent #beetles, not #flies.

    Entomologist Clyde Sorenson from #NorthCarolina State University explains that #larvae glow to warn #predators of their #toxic taste, while #adults use species-specific flash patterns as a #mating ritual, with some predatory “femme fatale” fireflies mimicking other species’ signals to lure and eat males.

    👉 popsci.com/environment/why-fir

    #bioluminescence #insects #lightningbugs #nature #science #entomology #wildlife #animals #biology #luciferin #summer

  7. The Living Light Shows of the Deep Ocean 🌊✨

    Meet the lobate comb jelly (Lobata). While they look remarkably like classic jellyfish, these translucent wanderers belong to the phylum Ctenophora—one of the absolute oldest lineages of animal life on Earth.

    They don't sting; instead, they use those massive, wing-like oral lobes to scoop up microscopic plankton as they drift.

    #photography
    #MarineBiology
    #Ctenophora
    #LobateCombJelly
    #bioluminescence
    #AltText

  8. The light above and the light below

    The light of billions of stars above is surpassed by the light of living organisms in the sea below.

    #photography
    #astrophotography
    #yakamoz
    #bioluminescence
    #MilkyWay
    #beach

  9. 2/
    The word natively refers to marine bioluminescence—the glowing trails left in the dark sea by millions of tiny disturbed organisms. Turkish fishermen adapted it from the Greek diakamós (διακαμός), used to describe the bright phosphorus tracks left by fish swimming at night.

    A beautiful intersection of language, history, and biology.

    #photography
    #astrophotography
    #bioluminescence
    #words

  10. YAKAMOZ (Turkish):
    The reflection of the moon on the surface of the water.While pop-linguistics books often frame this purely as a romantic, untranslatable word for moonlight, its scientific and historical roots are even more fascinating.

    #Linguistics
    #Etymology
    #Bioluminescence
    #Nature
    #Language
    #Words
    #photography
    #StarTrails
    #AltText

  11. Found a female firefly, in a typical larval looking form.
    The pictures don't capture the glow we saw , originating from the bottom. Dull flourescent green

    On reading, it seems the females are the more influential half of the night twinkling that happens, controlling reproduction, mistresses of chemistry, & even being femmes fatales.

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly

    #firefly #glowworm #beetles #beetlemania #IndiasNature #entomology #nature #bioluminescence

    *As seen on an a4 sheet with a printed table

  12. Beaker Street science photography prize – in pictures

    Bioluminescence from a large bloom of Noctiluca scintillans. These lazy microscopic organisms multiply in the millions and when agitated they glow blue to create a vast shimmering coastline.

    Photograph: Deni Cupit

    #photography
    #science
    #bioluminescence
    #beach
    #AltText

  13. Ocean's Depths Yield Bioluminescent Puzzle: Sea Squirt's Unseen Architecture

    Scientists found sea squirts have glowing spines and a complex nervous system. This changes how we see these simple sea animals. Affects marine biology studies.

    #SeaSquirt, #Bioluminescence, #MarineBiology, #OceanDiscovery, #ScienceNews

    newsletter.tf/sea-squirt-glowi

  14. New research reveals sea squirts have glowing spines and a complex nervous system, unlike what scientists previously thought. This finding adds a new layer to our understanding of marine invertebrates.

    #SeaSquirt, #Bioluminescence, #MarineBiology, #OceanDiscovery, #ScienceNews
    newsletter.tf/sea-squirt-glowi

  15. 🧪🌌 UC #Boulder researchers encapsulated single-celled #algae within #3D-printed hydrogel shapes.

    The team used an acidic solution to trigger a sustained blue glow from the organisms. These living structures could eventually serve as battery-free light sources or sensors that detect environmental toxins.

    👉 theguardian.com/science/2026/m

    #science #bioluminescence #3Dprinting #biology #marinebiology #technology #tech #innovation #nature #research #sustainability #lighting #colorado

  16. Amphibians Glow in Ways People Can’t See

    Many animals have a colourful, yet largely hidden, trait. Marine creatures like #fish and corals can glow blue, green or red under certain types of light. So can land animals like penguins and #parrots. But until now, experts knew of only one salamander and a few #frogs that could glow. No longer. Among #amphibians, this ability to glow now appears fairly common — even if you can’t see it. Research has found that most amphibians glow as well – even if it’s not visible to human eyes. Protect amphibians and reptiles every time you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

    DYK not only #fish or #insects glow 🐟🐠🐛🦋? #Research has found that amphibians glow as well – even if it’s not visible to human eyes 🌈🌟🎇 Protect #amphibians and #reptiles every time you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2024/06/30/blue-and-uv-light-makes-many-amphibians-glow-in-ways-that-people-cant-normally-see/

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    Written by Erin Garcia de Jesús for Science News Explores under creative commons licence. Read the original article here.

    The glow is produced through a process is known as fluorescence. A body absorbs shorter (higher energy) wavelengths of light. Almost immediately, it then re-emits that light, but now at longer (lower energy) wavelengths. People can’t see this glow, however, because our eyes aren’t sensitive enough to see the small amount of light given off in natural light.

    Blue poison dart frogs by Aleksei Stemmer for Getty Images

    Jennifer Lamb and Matthew Davis are biologists at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. They shone blue or ultraviolet light on 32 species of amphibians. Most were salamanders and frogs. Some were adults. Others were younger. One animal was a wormlike amphibian known as a caecilian (Seh-SEEL-yun).

    The researchers found some of the creatures in their natural habitats. Others came from places like the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Ill. (There, the pair were allowed to “come into the exhibit after dark and basically run through their exhibit,” Davis notes.)

    Blue poison dart frog by Zoological Consult for Getty ImagesForest Rainbowfish Melanotaenia sylvatica

    Research shows that biofluorescence is widespread and common not only among fish amongst amphibians

    To the researchers’ surprise, all the animals they tested glowed in brilliant colors. Some were green. The glow from others was more yellow. The colors glowed most strongly under blue light. Until now, scientists had seen such fluorescence only in marine turtles. The new finding suggests that this biofluorescence is widespread among amphibians.

    The researchers reported their findings February 27 in Scientific Reports.

    Red Eyed Tree Frog by Getty Images

    Which parts of an animal glow differ with the species, Lamb and Davis found. Yellow spots on the eastern tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) glow green under blue light. But in the marbled salamander (A. opacum), the bones and parts of its underside light up.

    Malayan Forest Gecko Cyrtodactylus pulchellus close up of face

    The researchers didn’t test what these amphibians use to glow. But they suspect the animals rely on fluorescent proteins or the pigments in some cells. If there are multiple ways they fluoresce, that would hint that the ability to glow evolved independently in different species. If not, the ancient ancestor of modern amphibians may have passed one trait on to species that are alive today.  

    Bornean Rainbow Toad Ansonia latidisca

    Fluorescence may help salamanders and frogs find one another in low light. In fact, their eyes contain cells that are especially sensitive to green or blue light.

    One day, scientists might also harness the amphibians’ ability to glow. They could use special lights to search for the animals to survey their presence in the wild. That might help them see creatures that blend into their surroundings or hide in piles of leaves.

    Blue poison dart frog by Zoological Consult for Getty Images

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    #amazingAnimals #Amphibian #amphibians #animalCommunication #animalRights #biodiversity #bioluminescence #BorneanRainbowToadAnsoniaLatidisca #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #deforestation #extinction #fish #ForestRainbowfishMelanotaeniaSylvatica #ForgottenAnimals #Frog #Frogs #GlassFrog #insects #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #Parrots #reptiles #research #SavageSGlassFrogCentroleneSavagei