Dozens of animals, some on land but many in the ocean, can produce light within their bodies through chemical reactions. Scientists are still trying to understand when and why this trait developed.
The Rose-veiled fairy wrasse, a small reef fish discovered in 2022.
Luiz A. Rocha/Wikimedia Commons
Synchrony is ubiquitous throughout the universe. But physicists’ equations predicted there could also be erratic exceptions marching to their own beat. Now they’ve been spotted in firefly swarms.
For centuries, sailors have told tales of milky seas – huge swaths of ocean glowing on dark nights, seen in blue in this false–color satellite image.
Steven D. Miller/NOAA
When conditions are just right in some parts of the Indian Ocean, a type of bacteria will multiply and start to glow. Satellites are helping scientists study these milky seas for the first time.
Crystal jellyfish contain glowing proteins that scientists repurpose for an endless array of studies.
Weili Li/Moment via Getty Images
Three pioneering technologies have forever altered how researchers do their work and promise to revolutionize medicine, from correcting genetic disorders to treating degenerative brain diseases.
Fireflies light up a June night in central Maine.
Mike Lewinski/Flickr
Fireflies’ summer evening light shows are a delight for humans, but for the insects they are a crucial mating ritual – and human-caused light pollution is a buzz kill.
The spectacle of glowing dolphins should serve as a timely reminder of our need to conserve the darkness we have left.
Detail from Reed Plummer’s photograph Surge, in which a breaking wave drops tons of water even as it pulls tons of sand from the sea bed.
South Australian Museum
Harnessing the awe-inspiring living light and power of bioluminescent organisms could change the human world.
While some things glow all the time, glow-in-the-dark paint must be ‘told to glow’ - just like a phone needs to be charged or it won’t work.
Mai Lam/The Conversation NY-BD-CC
You can see glow-in-the dark paint, but if you touch it, it is just as cold as the bedroom wall. So the glowing of the paint is different to the glowing of a light bulb.