Independant Learning Log 5 By Gavin Tay (11)

Date: 7/6/16

Source: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160526-the-organisms-that-glow-brighter-than-any-other

What I did:

I was looking through BBC, and came across this amazing article called: The organisms that glow brighter than any other

What I learnt:

- Many organisms have found ways to emit light, allowing them to glow brightly even in the darkest part of the world
- The ability to emit light is thought to have evolved independently up to 50 times
- The animals used the light to flirt, to defend themselves and even deceive one another
- How bioluminescence works -- A pigment called a luciferin undergoes a chemical reaction, generally triggered by an enzyme, that emits light
- There is no "brightest living thing"
- It seems likely that milky seas are created by masses of bioluminescent bacteria. At a critical density in the ocean they could produce an electric blue glow.
- Fireflies are not flies, but rather beetles in the family Lampyridae
- Glowworms are not worms but the larvae of a number of different insects, including flies from Australia and New Zealand, gnats in North America, and beetles across Europe and Asia

Summary:
This article is mainly about organisms glowing and the chemicals behind the emission of light. This article is also about why insects are misleadingly named.