Question

what are four things they talked about in Edith Widder Video : Glowing life in an underwater world.

Answer 1

The video gives a brief glimpse on the life underwater, the importance of bioluminescence in the living world and Widder's works to understand the importance of it.

The first part talks about the abundance of bioluminescence underwater. Compared to terrestrial life, where bioluminescence occurs as one of the rare cases like fireflies, the deepwater life uses it much more frequently with almost 80-90% animals some form of it. The majority of these colors lie in the blue range in order to traverse long distances. However, rarely red luminescence is also seen as trickster means.

The second part talks about the nature of these bioluminescent molecules. Traditionally identified by the tags of luciferase and luciferin, recent studies have shown that these chemicals occur in wide varieties. They have been shown to have importance in drug therapy, cancer therapy, antibacterial agents, to spread life to Mars and at many more places. This shows the importance of studying bioluminescence across different fields of science.

The third part talks about the uses of bioluminescence by these organisms. They have been used by different lifeforms for a variety of purposes. Some use it to lure prey, some use it to attract mates, still, others use it to scare away predators. Many use different forms of luminescence across various organs in many complex ways that are still not clearly understood.

The fourth part talks about the research of Widder. Traditional methods to explore marine life involve using machines and tools that make huge noise or cause ripples and shine high-intensity lights. This results in lifeforms move away from the site of study, thus resulting in an untrue picture of deep seas. Widder and the team went on to find a solution to this problem and have devised a novel approach that uses light that is not perceived by animals but can be reflected and detected by the camera. This allowed them to venture deep seas in its entirety without causing the animals to move away from the site.