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Newsweek
7 days ago
- Health
- Newsweek
Humans Give Off a Light That Is Extinguished in Death, Study Reveals
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. While auras may come from the realm of pseudoscience, all living beings do emit a faint light, invisible to the human eye—one that is extinguished upon death. This is the conclusion of a team of researchers from the University of Calgary, Canada, who used a special camera to study such "ultraweak photon emission" (UPE) in mice. UPE is closely linked to vitality," explained physicist Vahid Salari and colleagues in their paper, published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. "The study of UPE has fundamental importance for basic research, as it can be used for non-invasive insights into the biochemical and metabolic processes of living organisms." Stock image of a man glowing. Stock image of a man glowing. bestdesigns/iStock / Getty Images Plus UPE has been detected coming from a multitude of life forms—all the way up from single-celled organisms to plants, animals and even us humans. Unlike bioluminescence (as seen in creatures like fireflies and glowworms), which releases high-intensity visible light, UPE results in extremely low-intensity light our eyes cannot see. It is also separate to the blackbody radiation emitted as a result of temperature. According to the researchers, at the heart of UPE is the production of so-called reactive oxygen species, or ROS for short. (These, as their name might suggest, are highly reactive oxygen-containing molecules that result as a byproduct of the chemical reactions that sustain all living things.) ROS play a role as signaling molecules in the cellular response to stress. If too many of these molecules are produced, however, they can actually cause oxidative stress. When this overwhelms a cell's antioxidant defenses, cells and tissues can be damaged and electron excitation and transfer processes can be induced, leading to photon emission. In their study, the researchers created ultradark enclosures to block out environmental light and allow UPE from living organisms to be detected via specialist cameras. A so-called Electron-Multiplying Charge-Coupled Device (EMCCD) camera was used to capture UPE from plants, while a "regular" Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) to observe the changes in ultraweak photon emission between live and dead mice. While live mice gave off robust emissions, the team found just-euthanized mice—despite having the same body temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit—gave off robust UPE. UPE from live (top) and dead (bottom) mice. UPE from live (top) and dead (bottom) mice. Salari et al. / The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters Experimenting on plants, meanwhile, the researchers found that UPE emissions increased with both temperature and injuries—although the latter could be mitigated with chemical treatment. The findings, the team concluded, highlight how "UPE imaging provides the possibility of non-invasive label-free imaging of vitality in animals and the responses of plants to stress." Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about physics? Let us know via science@ Reference Salari, V., Seshan, V., Frankle, L., England, D., Simon, C., & Oblak, D. (2025). Imaging Ultraweak Photon Emission from Living and Dead Mice and from Plants under Stress. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 16(17), 4354–4362.
The Sun
15-05-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Humans 'emit mysterious light that disappears when we die' – as scientists say we really do ‘glow' with health
HUMANS do actually glow with health, according to scientists, as a new study suggests our bodies emit an extremely faint light that goes out when we die. It's not just humans either - but seemingly all life. 3 3 A new experiment on mice and plants, from the University of Calgary and the National Research Council of Canada, found that both lifeforms exhibit physical evidence of an eerie 'biophoton'. Biophotons, or ultra-weak photons, are tiny particles of light emitted by living organisms. But this light - which is so faint it cannot be seen by the naked eye - is extinguished under extreme stress or death, University of Calgary physicist Vahid Salari and his team have claimed. Researchers found they could capture the biophotons emitting from mouse cells before and after death in the visible band of light. There was a significant difference in the numbers of these photons in the period before and after the mice were euthanised. The study was also carried out on thale cress and dwarf umbrella tree leaves, to reveal similar results. Stressing the plants by crushing them showed strong evidence that reactive oxygen species could in fact be behind the soft glow. "Our results show that the injury parts in all leaves were significantly brighter than the uninjured parts of the leaves during all 16 hours of imaging," the researchers wrote in their report. A separate 2009 study also suggested that humans are bioluminescent. 'The human body literally glimmers,' study authors wrote at the time. 'The intensity of the light emitted by the body is 1000 times lower than the sensitivity of our naked eyes.' Salari and his team believe that being able to monitor this healthy glow could eventually provide medical specialists with a powerful, non-invasive research or diagnostics tool. It could offer a new way to remotely monitor the stress of individual tissues in whole human or animal patients. Alternatively, it could even work among crops or bacterial samples. 3
The Irish Sun
15-05-2025
- Health
- The Irish Sun
Humans 'emit mysterious light that disappears when we die' – as scientists say we really do ‘glow' with health
HUMANS do actually glow with health, according to scientists, as a new study suggests our bodies emit an extremely faint light that goes out when we die. It's not just humans either - but seemingly all life. Advertisement 3 Contrast in biophoton emissions in four mice, when alive (top) and dead (bottom) Credit: J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2025 3 Emissions of biophotons from four umbrella tree leaves Credit: J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2025 A new experiment on mice and plants, from the University of Calgary and the National Research Council of Canada, found that both lifeforms exhibit physical evidence of an eerie 'biophoton'. Biophotons, or ultra-weak photons, are tiny particles of light emitted by living organisms. But this light - which is so faint it cannot be seen by the naked eye - is extinguished under extreme stress or death, University of Calgary physicist Vahid Salari and his team have claimed. Researchers found they could capture the biophotons emitting from mouse cells before and after death in the visible band of light. Advertisement READ MORE ON WEIRD SCIENCE There was a significant difference in the numbers of these photons in the period before and after the mice were euthanised. The study was also carried out on thale cress and dwarf umbrella tree leaves, to reveal similar results. Stressing the plants by crushing them showed strong evidence that reactive oxygen species could in fact be behind the soft glow. "Our results show that the injury parts in all leaves were significantly brighter than the uninjured parts of the leaves during all 16 hours of imaging," the researchers wrote in their Advertisement Most read in Science Exclusive A separate 'The human body literally glimmers,' study authors wrote at the time. 'The intensity of the light emitted by the body is 1000 times lower than the sensitivity of our naked eyes.' Salari and his team believe that being able to monitor this healthy glow could eventually provide medical specialists with a powerful, non-invasive research or diagnostics tool. Advertisement It could offer a new way to remotely monitor the stress of individual tissues in whole human or animal patients. Alternatively, it could even work among crops or bacterial samples. 3 A separate 2009 study also suggested that humans are bioluminescent Credit: Getty
