New information has surfaced about this story, and we encourage you to read our updated blog from July 2024 (linked) for the latest on this story.
If battlegrounds could speak they would have many stories to tell. In some cases the microbes found in those soils have lived on to separate fact from fiction. One such story has its origins in the Battle of Shiloh, which went down in history as one of the bloodiest battles fought during the American Civil War. As the soldiers lay mortally wounded on the cold, hard grounds of Shiloh waiting for medical aid, they noticed a very strange phenomenon. Some of the wounds actually appeared to be glowing in the dark casting a faint light into the darkness of the battlefield. And the legend goes that soldiers with the glowing wounds had a better chance at survival and recovery from infections than their fellow brothers-in-arms whose wounds were not similarly luminescent. The seemingly protective effect of the mysterious light earned it the moniker “Angel’s Glow.”
Fast forward to the 21st century.
Continue reading “Angel’s Glow: Bioluminescence Uncovered on the Battlefield”