Bioluminescence http://www.hboi.edu/marine/biolum2/biolum.html
Bioluminescent organisms are ones which emit light - youÕll know this if you visited the previous bioluminescence website reviewed on Site of the week. Good news is: another glowing site has come to light - from The Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution.
If youÕve never come across bioluminescence, prepare to be impressed. ThereÕs more to it than just fireflies - there are millions of glowing creatures in the world, most of them in the oceans. In fact, the worldÕs most abundant vertebrate (organism with a backbone) is a small, glowing fish called the benttooth bristlemouth.
The site explains not only which organisms glow and how they glow - it details the ideas behind why they sglow, something which has puzzled observers for a long time. Follow the site from section to beautifully designed section, think about why microscopic plankton might glow, then read about Ôburglar alarmÕ theory, which sheds some light on the subject.
Richard Northover
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