fluorescence

via GIPHY A new article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences presents the discovery of a species of frog with fluorescence. The South American polka dot tree frog, aka Hypsiboas punctatus is already rather cute under normal light. But when exposed to UV light, this frog really shines. It gets its glowing personality from fluorescent molecules, hyloin-L1, L2 and G1, found in the skin, lymph tissues, and secretions from glands. These molecules have not been found in other animals. Researchers are not yet sure why these frogs fluoresce. Source: Taboada C, Brunetti AE…
tags: Amazing Jellies, jellyfish, siphonophores, gelata, gelatinous zooplankton, gelatinous marine animals, fluorescence, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Chad Widmer, Steve Haddock, QUEST, KQED, television, documentary, streaming video Perhaps you'd like to see what some of those creatures are that are being endangered by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? This lovely video provides a glimpse of the "gelata": siphonophores, jellies and other soft, gelatinous marine animals that lack bones and brains, but nonetheless, comprise much of marine life. They are otherworldly creatures that glow in the dark…
Yes, green laser pointers are cool. Especially when you use them to make stuff fluoresce. Ok, what about a blue laser pointer? They are getting surprisingly cheap (Amazon has a 10 mW for pretty cheap). Still not cheap enough for me. But, you know what? Some of the physics majors here at Southeastern Louisiana University purchased a couple of these. Physics major Daniel let me borrow his. First, they don't look too bright. This is probably because our eyes are not too sensitive to this wavelength. The blue 10 mW does not look anywhere near as bright as the 5 mW green that I used in…
tags: synthetic biology, molecular biology, genetics,Bacteria make Mexican Waves, A synchronized quorum of genetic clocks, bacteria, fluorescence,biological clock, NPG, peer-reviewed research, NATURE, 10.1038/nature08753, streaming video By synchronizing our clocks, we can coordinate our activities with people around the world. Now, scientists have genetically engineered bacteria to synchronize their molecular timekeepers, creating the stunning fluorescent waves that you see in this video (this video shows new research published today in NATURE). Read the original research here: http://dx.…