Looking at the World Through a UV Camera Reveals Some Unexpected Surprises

This great video shows how Ultraviolet light interacts with matter in a number of surprising and beautiful ways.
Jessica Miley

You probably think of sunburn when you think of UV light and you’d be right, but examining the world through UV cameras reveal other fascinating information about it.

This informative video from Veritasium explains some of the principles of the light, showing a whole new way of perceiving the world.

Ultraviolet light interacts with the world differently and makes some things look very different to regular visible light while others remain very close to the same. For instance, some pigments selectively absorb UV so they may appear white in visible light but dark in UV light.

Fluorescent molecules look different across different lights, they absorb UV light and re-radiate that energy back as visible light, this causes them to look dark in UV but glow brightly under black light.

A good example of this is looking at tonic water inside with a UV lamp after it has been outside! As summer continues to scorch much of the northern hemisphere, it’s fascinating to learn about Ultraviolet light and the way it interacts with our bodies.

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