Bioluminescence is a type of chemiluminescence; energy is released in the form of light from a chemical reaction. Bioluminescence is mostly seen within marine animals, however most people have seen it in fireflies. More than 90 percent of marine animals use some type of bioluminescence. The light is emitted because the bioluminescent animals produce a pigment called luciferin and an enzyme called luciferase. The light is created when luciferin reacts with oxygen. The luciferase plays the role of the catalyst speeding up the reaction. ATP is also involved this process, it acts as an energy source for the enzyme so it can start the reaction. This process can happen within or outside of the cell. Less than 20 percent of the light emitted from bioluminescence generates thermal radiation which basically means it emits less than 20% heat. Since there is so little thermal radiation, the bug doesn’t feel hot to touch. It barely produces any heat so the bug can’t combust. Combustion is a sequence of quick exothermic chemical reactions that produce heat and often light due to oxidation. It is highly unlikely that a bug could reach the temperature necessary in order for combustion to happen. In order for the bug to combust, the animal’s bioluminescence would have to make the bug about 200o Celsius. It would be extremely unlikely that the bug could reach that temperature without any outside sources. Sometimes when a bioluminescent bug feels hot to touch, it isn’t because of the bioluminescence. Bioluminescence barely produces any heat so it wouldn’t make sense for it to burn you. The only reason it feels hot to touch is because another chemical reaction occurs causing heat to be emitted; it’s part of the animal’s defense mechanism.
2 comments:
I have to disagree with your statement that bioluminescence can't burn you. Bioluminescence does release a little heat, and in this case, a bioluminescent organism could reach a temperature hot enough to burn, but cool enough to not reach combustion. What if the bug was at 100ºC? That temperature could cause a burn, yet, it's nowhere near hot enough for combustion to occur (175ºC).
I have to agree and disagree with different parts of your post. I agree with when you say that this bug could not have possibly been hot enough to combust. In my opinion I believe that if it was the species would have been extinct by now. But I disagree with the part where you say that the bug would not have even been hot enough to burn us a little bit because this bug might have been a special case.
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