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Bioluminescent Life Forms Essay

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Being able to see in the dark often does not come easy. For humans, we typically need to find a flashlight, and more times than not, find new batteries to power the device. For animals, it can be different. Some animals may see fine and night, and some animals have large eyes like owls that capture lots of light, and some animals use other senses to gather information about their surroundings. We humans on the other hand are left fumbling for candles when the power is out for any length of time. But there are some life forms that have a completely different approach – bioluminescent life forms. Bioluminescence life forms make their own light and carry it around in their bodies. This paper will address bioluminescence and try to …show more content…

In luminescent animals, chemical compounds mix together to produce a glow. Several earthworm species create a luminescent secretion that does not have an obvious purpose. Unlike incandescence, it neither requires nor generates much heat. The reason for some mushrooms’ glow is also unclear, although some scientist believe it attracts insects that spread the mushrooms’ spores.
With the expanding technology and recent discoveries, more questions about bioluminescence are answered daily but the history of bioluminescence dates back thousands of years. Scientists had a basic idea of the difference between incandescence and luminescence as far back as 2500 years ago. One of the earliest written accounts of bioluminescence dates back to Aristotle, and in the first century Gaius Plinius Secundus, a roman statesman, naturalist, and writer who began to document some of the glowing creatures near his home. There he had access to the Bay of Naples, a body of water known to many bioluminescent creatures. He identified many of the glowing animals, including the "Plumo Marinus," recognized today as the Purple Jellyfish, and he also remarked on the luminescent clam, Pholas dactylus. He was also the first recorded human use of bioluminescence, describing how he used a walking stick rubbed against a jellyfish's slime to light up his trail. During the next 1,300 years, research of bioluminescent organisms was rare because such suspicious creatures were often considered

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