The emission of light produced by a chemical reaction, without the object becoming hot like in regular fire.
From chemi- (chemistry) + luminescence (from Latin luminare, to light up, + -escence, a becoming). The term was coined in the late 19th century as scientists studied light-producing chemical reactions.
Chemiluminescence was nature's original LED—fireflies and deep-sea creatures evolved this billions of years ago, and we only figured out how to harness it for glow sticks and laboratory instruments in recent decades!
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