Daylight
UV Light
Daylight
UV Light
Daylight
UV Light
Daylight
Covered in dust, in a neglected storage area in one of our laboratories is another box labelled “AHLC Lichens”. As you might expect, the box contains collection of Lichens colony. These beautiful, almost crystalline life forms slowly animate the rocks and branches that they are attached to. I’ve discovered that many Lichens fluoresce under ultraviolet light, that is they absorb its energy and then re-emit it at a different and visible wavelength. In simpler terms, they glow in many different colours when exposed to UV light and their appearance is transformed entirely. I am minded of Spar-Boxes , a type of folk art unique to the North Pennines, and which were simple cabinets built by miners to display glittering fluorspar crystals and other minerals unearthed during lead mining. This is my Biological Spar Box, made using Lichens and the property of fluorescence, and is a memorial to the late Dr Tony Chamberlain whose Lichen samples they were.
If it wasn’t for reading your blog posts I would probably never have known this. Do other types of fungi or alga fluoresce under ultra-violet light?
Thank you for writing about lichens and microorganisms. I am a visual artist working with scientists looking at toxic impacts on the earth, including bioindicators, so your blog is of interest and I will follow it. Plus I will reblog to highlight it to my readers.
Reblogged this on Beautiful Dystopias and commented:
Hidden lichens revealed – interesting blog