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Lightning bugs!! (mander.xyz)

submitted 6 days ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[-] samus12345@lemm.ee 5 points 5 days ago

Humans are bioluminescent, too! But it's too dim for anything to actually be able to see, so it's no fun.

[-] Sculptor9157@sh.itjust.works 6 points 5 days ago

We also have stripes.

[-] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 6 points 5 days ago

Is that "article" trying to say we're exothermic and thus glow in the infrared?

[-] meowMix2525@lemm.ee 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Short answer: no

Long answer:

In scientific terms, the glow comes from chemical reactions within our bodies. These chemical reactions besides generating energy and producing heat also produce free radicals – atoms or molecules that have a lone, isolated electron. That makes these radicals highly reactive setting off a series of energetic chemical reactions as they interact with various fats and proteins in our cells. The glow is produced when these reactions involve fluorophores – molecules that give off photons (elementary particles of light).