Scientists Discover Human Hands Emit Light Energy

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" Aurum Solis " <lifetechnology

Thu, 6 Jul 2006 12:51:51 +0100

Scientists Discover Human Hands Emit Light Energy

 

 

 

 

From Life Technology News http://www.lifetechnology.org/blog/index.html

 

Human hands glow, but fingernails release the most light, according to

a recent study that found all parts of the hand emit detectable levels

of light.

 

The findings support prior research that suggested most living things,

including plants, release light. Since disease and illness appear to

affect the strength and pattern of the glow, the discovery might lead

to less-invasive ways of diagnosing patients.

 

Mitsuo Hiramatsu, a scientist at the Central Research Laboratory at

Hamamatsu Photonics in Japan, who led the research, told Discovery

News that the hands are not the only parts of the body that shine

light by releasing photons, or tiny, energized increments of light.

 

" Not only the hands, but also the forehead and bottoms of our feet

emit photons, " Hiramatsu said, and added that in terms of hands " the

presence of photons means that our hands are producing light all of

the time. "

 

The light is invisible to the naked eye, so Hiramatsu and his team

used a powerful photon counter to " see " it.

 

The detector found that fingernails release 60 photons, fingers

release 40 and the palms are the dimmest of all, with 20 photons measured.

 

The findings are published in the current Journal of Photochemistry

and Photobiology B: Biology.

 

Hiramatsu is not certain why fingernails light up more than the other

parts of the hand, but he said, " It may be because of the optical

window property of fingernails, " meaning that the fingernail works

somewhat like a prism to scatter light.

 

To find out what might be creating the light in the first place, he

and colleague Kimitsugu Nakamura had test subjects hold plastic

bottles full of hot or cold water before their hand photons were

measured. The researchers also pumped nitrogen or oxygen gas into the

dark box where the individuals placed their hands as they were being

analyzed.

 

Warm temperatures increased the release of photons, as did the

introduction of oxygen. Rubbing mineral oil over the hands also

heightened light levels.

 

Based on those results, the scientists theorize the light " is a kind

of chemiluminescence, " a luminescence based on chemical reactions,

such as those that make fireflies glow. The researchers believe 40

percent of the light results from the chemical reaction that

constantly occurs as our hand skin reacts with oxygen.

 

Since mineral oil, which permeates into the skin, heightens the light,

they also now think 60 percent of the glow may result from chemical

reactions that take place inside the skin.

 

Fritz-Albert Popp, a leading world expert on biologically related

photons at The International Institute of Biophysics in Germany,

agrees with the findings and was not surprised by them.

 

Popp told Discovery News, " One may find clear correlations to kind and

degree (type and severity) of diseases. "

 

Popp and his team believe the light from the forehead and the hands

pulses out with the same basic rhythms, but that these pulses become

irregular in unhealthy people. A study he conducted on a muscular

sclerosis patient seemed to validate the theory.

 

Both he and Hiramatsu hope future studies will reveal more about human

photon emissions, which could lead to medical diagnosis applications.