ScienceSeptember 1, 2026
bioluminescent
BY-oh-loo-muh-NESS-ent
Definition
Capable of producing and emitting light through a chemical reaction within a living organism.
Etymology
The word is a hybrid construction, derived from the Greek 'bios' (life) and the Latin 'lumen' (light), with the suffix '-escent' denoting the process of becoming or emitting.
In the news
In the article, it is mentioned that elephant seals hunt in pitch-black depths, relying on sensory data and the light flashes emitted by bioluminescent prey to find food.
A single female elephant seal was fitted with a depth logger and sent back to sea, and it turned out she was diving more than a mile straight down into darkness so complete it has never seen sunlight, holding her breath for the better part of two hours, again an
Read the full article ↗ScienceBlog.com