Why does this sound familiar? The human body gives off light, but it’s a thousand times too dim for the human eye to see. –livescience.com
You read it first in this week’s The Factory in Guide magazine.
There’s a saying that is often told to women when they are expecting a baby, “You’re positively glowing!” Usually, it means they are glowing with happiness because they are going to have a baby. But did you know we all glow?! That’s right! We each give off a certain amount of light. This is called bioluminescence. However, it is not readily obvious because the light is too dim for the naked eye to see.
Many studies have been done regarding this using special cameras that work in darkness. “Japanese researchers Masaki Kobayashi and Daisuke Kikuchi from the Tohoku Institute of Technology, along with Hitoshi Okamura have been able to capture this in these images from a new sensitive camera called the CCD – cryogenic charge-coupled device.”
Scientists have actually found that in certain times of the day we emit more light than at others. And certain parts of our body glow more than others. For instance, our heads and faces give off more light than the rest of us. And the highest light is measured during late afternoon.
Why does this happen? Well, the easy answer is it all has to do with our body clocks and our metabolism – and the mixing of certain chemicals within our body causing this reaction. Remember, metabolism is the way our bodies break down our food and use the generated energy.
Our bodies go through cycles during approximately every 24 hour period. When it becomes daylight our bodies start to wake up. When it gets dark at night our bodies will start to slow down and get sleepy. This is all because of certain chemicals that release, or increase or decrease, during the day and during the night.
Melatonin seems to be a factor, as well. The reason our faces and heads may produce more light is because they are exposed to the most sunlight during the day, whereas the rest of our bodies are covered with our clothing. The skin exposed to sunlight will produce more melatonin – another hormonal chemical that works with others to produce this reaction of light.
It’s cool to know we glow! One advantage that scientists are hoping for is that their light scans detecting the glow will eventually be able to help us diagnose disease faster by detecting important changes in our metabolism! In the meantime, keep shining for Jesus and keep exercising your faith!
This reminds me of Moses after he spent time with God on the mountain. When he came down, the people saw his face was glowing so brightly they could hardly look at him. “And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him [God].” Exodus 34:35 NKJV
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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