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Is Bioluminescence The Most Common Form of Communication on the Planet?
Maybe our attempts to communicate with aliens is all wrong
I’ll admit, glowing sea creatures haven’t exactly been on my radar of curiosities. I suppose it seems a bit silly considering how bewildering it is that glowing plants and animals exist in real life and not just in sci-fi stories. I guess it’s because we’ve known of bioluminescence for a while now, so at this point, it doesn’t seem very revolutionary.
Recently, I watched an episode of a docuseries (I’ll tell you about it later) and there’s a quote that changed from my perspective regarding the importance and wonder of bioluminescence. Now, I can’t help but see it in a whole new, ahem, light.
What is Bioluminescence?
I’m sure you know what bioluminescence is, at least in some sense. After all, if you’ve ever seen a firefly, then you’ve witnessed it yourself. Smithsonian Ocean has a great resource that explains how living organisms are capable of bioluminescence. The short of it is that the light emitted by various plants and animals — and everything in between — results from a chemical interaction.
