What makes fireflies glow?

As fireflies are delighting children across the country with their nighttime displays, scientists are closing in on a better understanding of how the insects produce their enchanting glow. They report in the Journal of the ...

The wonders of bioluminescent millipedes

There's something inherently magical, even surreal, about seeing hundreds of glowing millipedes scattered across the ground of a sequoia grove on a moonless night in Sequoia National Park.

Researchers shine light on origin of bioluminescence

In the mountains of Virginia, millipedes have bright yellow and black colors to warn enemies that they are toxic and not worth eating. Their cousins in California convey this warning in a very different way—by glowing in ...

Some mushrooms glow, and here's why

Did you know that there are mushrooms that actually glow? Aristotle was aware of this intriguing fact more than 2,000 years ago. He also was the first person to ask a simple question in print: Why? Now, researchers reporting ...

Bioluminescence as a method of assessing fish stocks

Research by the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) explores a promising new method of forecasting bioluminescence, which may improve the monitoring of movements in the ocean, such as fish shoals and internal waves.

Researchers show fruit flies have latent bioluminescence

New research from Stephen C. Miller, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular pharmacology, shows that fruit flies are secretly harboring the biochemistry needed to glow in the dark—otherwise known as bioluminescence.

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