Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Christina Lux

We're visited again by German singer/songwriter Christina Lux, who performs her song, To the World.

This song is my wish to you, as this will be the final lullaby here at Night the Beloved. Other projects are requiring attention and I'm afraid I can no longer devote time to this blog. A new day beckons and it's time to greet the dawn.

Thank you for taking this journey through the night with me. Godspeed, sweet dreams and good night.

Luminous Life - Light Generation

© Eandephotography | Dreamstime.com

The luminous creatures and life forms we've surveyed so far all make use of a specific chemical reaction to produce light. If they don't create the reaction themselves, they have a symbiotic relationship with light-generating bacteria that are housed in a special light organ within the host animal.

But it turns out that there is another biological mechanism that generates photons, or the basic unit of light. Ultraweak photon emission is the term for the process that creates biophotons - photons created by biological systems. Scientists think that all living cells, plant and animal, do create light in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum. But the light is so weak, special detectors are needed to pick it up.

So while we may envy those amazing sea creatures and fireflies that flash beautiful light, we ourselves are emitting a very low level of light. You're doing it, right now, even as you read this. In humans, the fingertips, forehead and soles of the feet seem to give off the most light.

Biophoton image of a hand.

The light is thought to be created by a chemical reaction, like bioluminescence, but the reaction is tied to the DNA molecules that reside in the nuclei of our cells. The hypothesis is that DNA both stores and releases the photons to form a network of light that is used for communication and to regulate various processes within the body. Some potential applications for the science of biophotonics include non-invasive medical diagnostics, food and water quality testing and cancer research.

Our journey to explore the luminous life around us has ended with ourselves, with tiny packets of light pulsing through the very stuff of life within us. We're so much more interesting than we realize.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Ane Brun

I couldn't resist another Ane Brun video. The Norwegian singer/songwriter performs her version of the song True Colors. She sings it so simply and with such an open heart, it's just wonderful.

Luminous Life - The Glittering Sea

A bioluminescent hydromedusa.

So far, our examination of bioluminescence has focused on land dwellers - fungi, worms, various insects. As rare as the ability is here on dry ground, up to 90 percent of ocean life is capable of producing light. Against the backdrop of a black sea, life forms use self-generated light to hunt, find mates and defend themselves.

Red tide bioluminescence taken at midnight at a
Carlsbad, California beach. Image by Flickr user msauder.

And it starts at the bottom of the food chain. Some forms of plankton can create light, as in the image above. The sea appears to glow, especially when disturbed, and if conditions are right, the phenomenon can cover such a large area that it can be seen from space.

A ctenophores light display is actually diffraction
of ambient light, not bioluminescence.

Even when sea creatures are not producing their own light, they are able to make use of what dim light reaches them. Some organisms can put on quite a display by reflecting any existing light.

Blackdevil angler fish with bioluminescent lure.
Image by Edith Widder/HBOI.

As beautiful as a bioluminescent display can be, it can mask a hungry predator. The angler fish lights its lure to draw in prey. This little fishy looks like it swam straight out of a bad dream.

We can thank Edith Widder for bringing us this scary guy. For more of her images and the challenges she faces trying to capture shimmering sea creatures and photograph them, check out this link.

To go with the still images, here are 2 short videos of bioluminescence in action. The first one features a magnificent jellyfish shown in both direct light and in darkness.



This second video is of a dazzling comb jelly that almost appears to be an alien life form.



As I was thinking about how, even in the darkest depths of the ocean, the sea inhabitants were using their own light, it made me wonder why they would develop the ability in the first place. Why not develop some other sensory method to accomplish all the tasks they need to accomplish? Electrical signals, pressure changes, scent, hearing - something that didn't depend on light, which is so noticeably absent in that environment.

Not being a biologist, I can only speculate that the rhythm of the Earth's day/night cycle was a powerful influence on evolution, even when life was found only in the sea. The dichotomy was so strong that life forms internalized it so that even in the darkness, light can exist.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Missy Higgins

This week's lullaby features Australian singer/songwriter Missy Higgins in a live performance of her song Nightminds. I love this song for its depth of emotion and honesty. I hope you enjoy it.