I discovered a very interesting, though admittedly totally useless, but very interesting fact tonight. Eggs glow bright pink to bright fuchsia under black light.
How did I discover this you ask? Well, you see, there was this spider....very big spider....may I emphasize VERY big spider...hanging on the corner of the doorway of my porch. I went to move it away from my head with my flashlight, and...managed to drop and bust the flashlight. As I still needed to lock up the birds, I turned to the only other flashlight with batteries in the house...the UV flashlight I use to detect when my cat has been naughty on the carpet.
Locking up the birds, I flashed the UV light into the nest boxes to see well enough after dark to collect eggs, and I discovered...ta da....my olive green and terra cotta eggs glow bright fuchsia in UV light. I mean REALLY bright, out of this world, alien fuchsia. Chagrined and more than curious, I came back into the house and tested it on my blue eggs (lighter fuchsia) and white eggs (rosy pink). Yes folks, I spent the next 20 minutes shining UV light on my eggs and seeing the pretty magical colors. (See pic below).
I looked it up on Google. Quote from AI search "Yes, brown chicken eggs glow red under a black light, or ultraviolet (UV) light, due to a molecule called protoporphyrin IX (PPIX). PPIX is a precursor to hemoglobin, the pigment that gives blood its red color.
I conjecture it depends on the hemoglobin wash in the eggs for the darker fuchsia, apparently, which would explain why my olive eggs (blue shell with hemoglobin wash) and brown eggs (hemoglobin wash) would be darker than the blue and white.
And that's your interesting, but totally useless, fact for the day. I am soooooo using this with my tutor students!
Curious and still learning,
LofMc
top photo clipped from internet article as it shows colors accurately. Bottom blurry photo, my eggs (trying to juggle UV light and camera at the same time).
How did I discover this you ask? Well, you see, there was this spider....very big spider....may I emphasize VERY big spider...hanging on the corner of the doorway of my porch. I went to move it away from my head with my flashlight, and...managed to drop and bust the flashlight. As I still needed to lock up the birds, I turned to the only other flashlight with batteries in the house...the UV flashlight I use to detect when my cat has been naughty on the carpet.
Locking up the birds, I flashed the UV light into the nest boxes to see well enough after dark to collect eggs, and I discovered...ta da....my olive green and terra cotta eggs glow bright fuchsia in UV light. I mean REALLY bright, out of this world, alien fuchsia. Chagrined and more than curious, I came back into the house and tested it on my blue eggs (lighter fuchsia) and white eggs (rosy pink). Yes folks, I spent the next 20 minutes shining UV light on my eggs and seeing the pretty magical colors. (See pic below).
I looked it up on Google. Quote from AI search "Yes, brown chicken eggs glow red under a black light, or ultraviolet (UV) light, due to a molecule called protoporphyrin IX (PPIX). PPIX is a precursor to hemoglobin, the pigment that gives blood its red color.
I conjecture it depends on the hemoglobin wash in the eggs for the darker fuchsia, apparently, which would explain why my olive eggs (blue shell with hemoglobin wash) and brown eggs (hemoglobin wash) would be darker than the blue and white.
And that's your interesting, but totally useless, fact for the day. I am soooooo using this with my tutor students!
Curious and still learning,
LofMc
top photo clipped from internet article as it shows colors accurately. Bottom blurry photo, my eggs (trying to juggle UV light and camera at the same time).
