Week 7: Production & Properties of LIght

10/14/2018

7 Comments

Oct 14 - 20
Posts Are Due By Midnight On Saturday Oct 20th

7 Comments

Camryn Moerchen link

10/18/2018 04:18:24 pm

This article describes how stars produce light, and how deadly gamma rays are involved with it.

Adam Gaisinsky link

10/18/2018 06:26:17 pm

This article talks about how artificial blue light is detrimental to us oppose to the natural blue light. Electronic devices emit blue light that is artificial and scientists have proven that is can cause blindness. Looking at your phone for too long hurts your retinas and speeds up the rate of blindness. Apparently, it may also slightly increase risk for cancer but i would say that its not 100% proven.

Dami Babs-Olorunfemi link

10/20/2018 06:26:36 am

"Certain creatures both on land and sea can produce light through chemical reactions taking place within their bodies known as Bioluminescence. The bioluminescence results from a light-producing chemical reaction also called chemiluminescence. Certain types of chemicals when mixed together produce energy which ‘excites’ other particles on vibration and generate light which causes the glow. The group of chemicals involved to make plankton glow are broadly termed luciferins and the light is produced by a series of oxidation reactions set off by a catalyst called luciferase. The bioluminescence in plankton is very high in several forms of Plankton and is a form of cold light or luminescence.

Plankton consists of any drifting organism (plant or animal) that inhabit the oceans and provide a vital source of food to larger aquatic organisms such as fish. A vast range of plankton, both zoo plankton and single-celled animal plankton are known to be bioluminescent. Bioluminescent phytoplankton occur in all the world’s oceans.The most common of these are Dinoflagellates which are tiny unicellular Bio-luminescent Plankton-marine plankton also known as fire plants."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I found this article interesting and I think it is the plankton that lit up the water in trail that boats made during the World Wars. Planktons are very important to marine life because they provide food for the fish. That raises the question however, what happens to the fish that eat the bio-luminescent plankton, do they become bio-luminescent as well? You are what you eat right?

Alishba Malik link

10/20/2018 07:50:07 am

This article talks about bioluminescent marine animals. Bioluminescent is present in 90% of all animals living in the ocean. If we were to dive into the ocean, we would experience lightshows of vast colours, such as, red, green and blue. These marine species use their light for communication, attracting other species for food, and to ward off predators.

Salman Rashid link

10/20/2018 12:07:03 pm

I read an article about how Lake Merritt in Oakland, California, seems to emit a soft blue glow on summer nights. The glow is caused by the bioluminescence of dinoflagellates. They emit blue-green light because it travels the furthest in water, and allows the single-celled organisms to illuminate nearby predators so their predators can eat them. I think that's a unique and effective defense!

Madison link

10/20/2018 07:01:45 pm

This article talks about fireflies and their habitats, life cycle and mating ritual. But most importantly it talks about how they use bioluminescence to attract a mate.

Yuxi Qin link

10/20/2018 08:16:53 pm

"Gamma Rays a Flight Risk?"
In this article, it discusses the idea of the production of gamma rays and how they are also present during thunderstorms, particularly during lightning production. Just one of these flashes, when exposed to during commercial flights (when lightning occurs at nearly the same level - 15km above Earth- as these flights) and equate to about 400 chest x-rays, which can modify DNA and possibly cause cancer. Also, as these flashes only last up to two milliseconds and are theorized to form in the more violent parts of the storms, it is viewed as unlikely that this would come to harm regular fliers.

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.