Past research has suggested that most living things release light, including animals as well as plants, but in an article published on September 6th by the Discovery Channel, experiments are now proving that human hands actually glow.

However, its not only the hands that emit light. Hiramatsu stated in an interview with Discovery News, “Not only the hands, but also the forehead and bottoms of our feet emit photons,” adding, “the presence of photons means that our hands are producing light all of the time.”

Hiramatsu used a photon detector to measure the light that is otherwise invisible to the naked eye. The results were that the detector found that fingernails release 60 photons of light, fingers release 40 photons in the same time period. The palms of the hand, the dimmest of all, release 20 photons.

In the findings, which were published in the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology, Hiramatsu describes how he investigated how or what might be creating the light. To determine the cause, Hiramatsu and his colleague Kimitsugu Nakamura had test subjects hold bottles of hot or cold water before the test. They also pumped nitrogen gas, in one case, and oxygen gas in another, into a box where the subjects placed their hands during the measurements. The results indicated that warm hands produced more photons than cold hands, as did the presence of oxygen in the box.

The exact source of the light could not be determined, but the scientists believe that it is due to chemiluminescence with about 40% being produced as a result of chemical reactions occurring on the surface of the skin. The remainder was due to reactions within the skin itself.

Not mentioned in the research was why other parts of the body do not generate similar results, even though the skin is biologically similar to that on the hands.

Hiramatsu is also not certain why fingernails light up more than other parts of the hand, but said, “It may be because of the optical window property of fingernails,” indicating that the fingernail acts as a sort of prism that scatters the light.

Fritz-Albert Popp, a leading expert on biologically related photons at The International Institute of Biophysics in Germany, agreed with Hiramatsu’s findings. It is Popp’s belief that the light from the forehead and hands pulses with a specific rhythm. However, in unhealthy people, these pulses become irregular. In a study performed on patients with Multiple Sclerosis, this theory appeared to be validated. The hope is that future research will identify how this emission could be used as a form of non-invasive diagnostics by the medical profession.

Science Meets Ancient Religion

This latest scientific revelation is very similar to many ancient beliefs. One such belief is associated with chakras. In this belief, a chakra is a spinning vortex of energy created within ourselves by the interpenetration of consciousness and the physical body. Through this combination, chakras become centers of activity for the reception, assimilation and transmission of life energies. Uniting the chakras is what we experience as the "self." It is through our chakras that our self grows and changes and interacts with the world. The Vedas, which are the oldest written tradition in India (2,000 - 600 B.C.), were written largely by the Aryans, who were said to have entered India on chariots. The original meaning of the word chakra as "wheel" refers to the chariot wheels of the invading Aryans. (The correct spelling is cakra, though pronounced with a ch as in church.) The word was also a metaphor for the sun, which "traverses the world like the triumphant chariot of a cakravartin" (ruler), and denotes the eternal cycle of time called the kalacakra, or Wheel of Time. In this way, it is said to represent celestial order and balance.

While the full discussion of chakras will be held until future articles, the interesting relationship with the scientific research shows light emanating from the hands, feet and forehead, is that in this belief, these chakras represent a flow of energy and are often associated with light, or more specifically, certain colors or vibrations of light. The seven major chakras, as illustrated in this diagram, form a central energy conduit where energy takes the form of a stream and flows up your spine, out the top of your head and surrounds you like a round waterfall, cascading with a steady, powerful flow to the ground. The chakras under one's feet lead to the center of the earth. Secondary chakras of importance are located in the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet, and at major joints in the arms and legs. It is further stated that the secondary chakras in the hands allow energy to flow outward, as well as inward. It is through this flow that healing is made possible.

Perhaps the ancients knew something that we are just now rediscovering?

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