Every living thing ‘glows’. Image Credit: Pixabay / FalcoZen

Researchers have discovered that all living things emit a distinctive ‘glow’ due to a little-known phenomenon.

Spiritualists have long claimed to be able to sense or even see an ‘aura’ around living things, and now it appears they may have been right all along – although the explanation is a little different.

The new study, which was conducted by scientists at the University of Calgary in Canada, discovered that photons emitted by chemical processes within the body produce a tiny amount of light.

The existence of such a phenomenon had been disputed for years, but now researchers have been able to capture direct evidence of it using ultra-sensitive cameras.

To achieve this, they photographed mice in the dark with an hour-long exposure.

“This really shows that this is not just an imperfection or caused by other biological processes,” lead author Dr Daniel Oblak told New Scientist.

“It’s really something that comes from all living things.”

“The fact that ultraweak photon emission is a real thing is undeniable at this point.”

The researchers also recorded the same phenomenon in leaves, even after they were cut from the tree. They also found that the glow was brighter when damage activated the plant’s repair system.

In mice, however, once the animal had died, the glow stopped.

“This shows in a very clear way that UPE is associated with being alive,” said Dr Oblak.