| Light | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Little bright, Moby! | |||
| Season | 2 | ||
| Airdate | December 30, 2001 July 2022 (Update) | ||
| Curriculum | Science | ||
Light is a BrainPOP Science video launched on December 30, 2001.
Summary[]
Tim answers a letter about light. Tim and Moby are talking about light.
At the end, Tim carries Moby as a heavy baby. They fell to the ground with a crash, out of shot. "Get off!", Tim says.
Update[]
At the end, Moby flashes a picture of a banana in the night sky.
Appearances[]
Transcript and Quiz[]
Quotes[]
- [Last lines]
- Tim: You're such a baby. A heavy baby. [collapses on the floor] Get off!
Update Quotes[]
- Nat: [when a banana appears in the night sky] Yes, Moby. That's Bananas.
FYIs[]
Around The World[]
Have you ever heard of the northern lights? In northern areas like Canada, Russia, Finland, Alaska, and Scandinavia, remarkable shimmering lights appear in the night sky. Sometimes, the lights (known officially as the aurora borealis) look like a flashing green curtain in the sky—but they can also appear as long arcs stretching from horizon to horizon, or as constantly-changing colorful patterns.
The light produced by the aurora is generated more than 80 kilometers up in the sky. The magnetosphere, a zone of Earth’s atmosphere, contains a large number of charged particles. Most of them are electrons, and most of them come from the Sun, and are “blown” towards earth by the solar wind.
When particles from the Sun crash into atoms and molecules in Earth’s upper atmosphere, the earth’s particles gain extra energy. This energy causes the atoms to enter an “excited” state. To return to their normal state, they need to shed some of that extra energy. So they release excess energy in the form of photons, which are visible to us as light.
Interestingly, the northern lights line up almost exactly with Earth’s magnetic field lines, and they occur in the north because they’re attracted to Earth’s magnetic north pole. Auroras occur near the magnetic south pole, too—they’re called aurora australis. But since there are fewer people down there, they’re not observed as frequently as the northern lights.
Flora And Fauna[]
Q: How does a firefly produce its own light?
A: Fireflies—along with certain species of fish, ocean invertebrates, worms, centipedes, millipedes, and fungus—are able to produce light through chemical reactions in their bodies. This ability is called bioluminescence, and it’s used for a number of different purposes.
There are 2,000 species of firefly living on Earth. Technically, they’re beetles that belong to the family lampyridae. They have special light-emitting organs on their lower abdomens, which produce light when an chemical called luciferase interacts with oxygen and another chemical called luciferin.
The process is remarkably efficient; about 90 percent of the energy produced in this reaction makes visible light, and almost none of it produces heat. A standard lightbulb only converts 10 percent of its energy into visible light.
Fireflies use their “flashes” to signal each other and to attract potential mates. In some areas, large groups flash in unison, creating a stunning effect. There’s even one type of firefly where the females imitate the mating flashes of other firefly species—and then eat the unlucky males who are drawn to them!
Quirky Stuff[]
Here’s a weird one. When you walk outside on a bright sunny day, do you start sneezing?
As much as a third of the human population suffers from something called the photic sneeze reflex, also known as “solar sneezing,” “photogenic sneezing,” or, humorously, “ACHOO syndrome”. It’s a dominant genetic trait, which means you’ve got a 50 percent shot of inheriting it from your parents if they have it.
Back in the day, Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle wondered about the reason for photic sneezing, although he guessed (incorrectly) that it has something to do with the sun’s heat affecting the nose! Today, researchers believe that the photic sneeze reflex is caused by a crossing-up of nerves in people’s heads.
Here’s how it works: Some people have an association between the fifth cranial nerve, which causes sneezing, and the optic nerve, which transmits visual signals to the brain. When the optic nerve gets seriously stimulated (like when it’s suddenly exposed to bright light), it triggers a reaction in the fifth cranial nerve, and the person starts sneezing!
Real Life[]
If you live near a big city, you’re probably familiar with light pollution. Light from homes and businesses turns the night sky a reddish-orange color, preventing you from seeing the stars and other objects in space.
There are several different types of light pollution. Over-illumination is the excessive use of light, such as the full night-time illumination of buildings that are only open during the day, or the over-illumination of indoor spaces that don’t really need it. Light trespass occurs when badly designed or directed light fixtures illuminate areas that don’t need the illumination. And sky glow occurs when fixtures emit light upward, where it scatters in the sky and creates a glowing haze over heavily-populated areas. It can also be caused by light reflecting off buildings and other objects and bouncing into the sky.
Light pollution isn’t just ugly. It wastes energy and causes excess fossil fuels to be burned. Light pollution can also disrupt ecosystems—it interferes with the internal navigation systems of moths and butterflies; messes with the natural cycles of nocturnal plants and animals; and prevents sea turtle hatchlings on beaches from moving safely into the ocean.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that more than 4 million birds are killed every year when they’re attracted to the lights in towers and tall buildings. Light pollution also prevents astronomers from studying faint objects in the night sky. Fortunately, light pollution is a problem that can be fixed. An organization called the International Dark-Sky Association is working to raise awareness about the issue and educate people about lighting that creates a minimal amount of light pollution.
FYI Comic[]
