The Dyche Natural History Museum at the University of Kansas has this almost hidden little room in the basement where you can go in, close a curtain, flip on a blacklight and watch as a collection of seemingly ordinary rocks light up with a fluorescent glow. This series of images, taken by photographer Louise Murray, reminds me of how much I like that room at the Dyche. Only, instead of rocks, Murray snaps photos of coral, fish and other sea creatures, using a portable blue light.
Fluorescent colours are produced by cells responding to certain wavelengths of light hitting them – causing the cell to emit its own light on a different wavelength, which creates a different colour. Traffic cones and highlighter pens are just two everyday examples of fluorescing objects that humans can detect without any equipment. Above ground people can usually pick up other fluorescing objects using ultra violet lights.
The Telegraph: Slideshow—The hidden fluorescent colours of the oceans
(Via Maria Popova)