They did not always prioritize the protection of Mauna Kea's fragile ecosystems or its holiness to the islands' inhabitants.

“People think it’s like going out to lunch, ” says Anne Wallace, chief of plastic surgery at University of California, San Diego Health System. “Like any surgery, it needs to be taken seriously.”

But researchers at U.C. San Diego have developed a fluorescent warning system that lights up in the presence of toxins that could lead to food poisoning for a consumer.