The human body literally glows, emitting a visible light in extremely small quantities at levels that rise and fall with the day, scientists now reveal. This phenomenon is know as Bioluminescence. Past research has shown that the body emits visible light, 1,000 times less intense than the levels to which our naked eyes are sensitive. In fact, virtually all living creatures emit very weak light, which is thought to be a byproduct of biochemical reactions.

Five healthy male volunteers in their 20s were placed bare-chested in front of the cameras in complete darkness in light-tight rooms for 20 minutes every three hours from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. for three days. The researchers found the body glow rose and fell over the day, with its lowest point at 10 a.m. and its peak at 4 p.m., dropping gradually after that. Faces glowed more than the rest of the body. These findings suggest there is light emission linked to our body clocks, most likely due to how our metabolic rhythms fluctuate over the course of the day.

Surprisingly, most cases on bioluminescence in humans comes from ill patients. Anna Monaro had asthma and for several weeks, a blue glow would emit from her chest while she slept. Anna Monaro of Italy was called “The luminous woman of Pirano” because of this phenomenon. She first started to glow during an asthma attack in 1934 and became a news sensation at the time. In his book ‘Death: Its Causes and Phenomena’, Hereward Carrington reported the body of a boy radiating a blue glow after his death of acute indigestion.

credits: http://www.livescience.com , http://listverse.com , http://scienceblogs.com