Bioluminescence: lighting the path towards technology

People have been curious on the light emitted in the marine environment. Some speculated eerie imaginations and some satisfy their curiosity by knowing what was really making the sea to glow in the dark. Bioluminescence dates back since the time of Robert Boyle when he demostrated that air or oxygen was required for light to emit from a rotting wood containing luminescent bacteria or fungi. Biolum, as I called such penomenon is a form of light produced by a chemical reaction in living organism. This may vary from species to species. But not all have such interesting charateristics. Mostly the marine fauna carry such trait, mainly for defense and predation or for merely communicating with their mates. Among the light emitting species are the bacteria, dinoflagellates, fungi, fish, insects , shrimps and squid. Below are pictures of light emmiting organisms copied from the site of Hasting's lab Home Page.
RAILROAD WORM


SQUID

MUSHROOM

BACTERIA in plate