Human Bioluminescence Detected by High-Sensitivity Detector Can Reflect Physical and Mental Health

Energy meridians appear most luminous

Kirlian aura photography shows a glowing human hand. MP_Foto/Shutterstock

If you visit chapels and cathedrals, glowing haloes are often seen around divine beings and saints in murals. Such imagery is used to indicate the holiness or greatness of these individuals. In reality though, as long as a being is alive and metabolizing, it will emit faint light. While a human body’s luminescence is usually not well distributed, its highlights are almost identical to the meridians, or energy channels, described in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

In the 1980s, scientists used a highly sensitive photomultiplier tube as a detector to measure a faint but visible glow emitted by organisms. Studies have found that the levels of the human body’s luminescence correlate to physical and psychological health. Therefore, the study of luminescence may serve as a detection method for such conditions.

Human Bioluminescence Is Emitted When Metabolism Is Active

Scientists have discovered that the body gives off a glow during daily metabolic activities. To test their hypothesis, researchers measured the luminescence of blank paper against that of both a piece of pork and a human hand under the same dark conditions. While the paper glowed 10 to 1,000 times brighter than a human hand when exposed to sunlight, the glow faded before long. By contrast, the luminosity of the human hand remained at the same level in the dark. The fingertips were the most luminous, followed by the palm and the junction between the thumb and the index finger, respectively. The weakest part was the back of the hand. The piece of pork, however, gave off no light.