ROBYNN LIN FREDERICKS
BCHHP
We tend to think of sunlight as something we see.
Biology experiences it as something far more complex.
The sun doesn't simply illuminate our environment.
It interacts with our biology.
LIGHT + CELLULAR ENERGY
Light is information.
THE SOLAR SPECTRUM
The sun is more than visible light.
One star. A spectrum of biological information.
Sunlight reaches us as a broad spectrum of wavelengths - from ultraviolet through
visible light and into infrared.
Our biology doesn't interact with all of those wavelengths in the same way. And the spectrum itself isn't static: as the sun moves across the sky, the intensity and relative balance of wavelengths reach us changes.
The spectrum changes. The ratios change.
The biological information changes.
UVB - UVA - VIOLET - BLUE - GREEN - YELLOW - ORANGE - RED - NEAR INFRARED
*These wavelengths overlap throughout much of the day. They are shown
separately here to explore their different biological interactions - not to
suggest that sunlight delivers them one at a time.
We evolved under a spectrum, not a bulb.
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WAVELENGTH MATTERS
Different light. Different conversations.
Sunlight is one spectrum, but different regions of that spectrum can interact with biology through different pathways.
Some signals are detected by the eyes and help communicate time to the brain. Others interact directly with molecules in the skin and tissues. Some initiate photochemical reactions. And some may influence cellular signaling and energy metabolism.
LIGHT + TIME
Sunlight doesn't stay the same all day.
As the sun moves across the sky, its intensity and spectral balance change.
Which raises another question:
Does when light reaches us change the biological conversation?