Bioluminescent Galaxy

Chaudhary, Gaurav; Ye, Michael; Ewoldt, Randy

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/89880 Copy

Description

Title

Bioluminescent Galaxy

Author(s)

• Chaudhary, Gaurav
• Ye, Michael
• Ewoldt, Randy

Issue Date

2016-04

Keyword(s)

Mechanical Science and Engineering

Abstract

These are not the Hubble generated images of galaxies in distant universe. In fact, these are the images of bioluminescent microscopic marine organisms, dinoflagellata (Pyrocystis fusiformis), from very simple lab experiments captured using a DSLR camera. A single organism is shown in the center image, length ~ 70 microns. Dinoflagellata are unicellular organisms that respond to mechanical disturbances in their surroundings by emitting visible light almost instantaneously. They are the most common source of bioluminescence in the sea at night, and well-known locations to observe them include Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and New Zealand. We characterize this behavior by exposing populations of cells to hydrodynamic forces in a rheometer, shown in the circular images (circle diameters 40 mm). Cells in a pool of seawater are placed on a surface-treated (silanized) glass plate which promotes cell adhesion. An aluminum disk is placed a fixed distance from the glass surface and rotated to create a flow field. The sequence of images shown are captured at different angular velocities of the aluminum disk. At higher velocities, cells are exposed to higher hydrodynamic stresses, and hence emit higher intensity of light. The blue streaks in the images are path lines followed by individual organisms.

Type of Resource

• text
• image

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/89880

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2016 Gaurav Chaudhary, Michael Ye, and Randy Ewoldt

Owning Collections