Green beetle's super-shiny secret (BBC) {photonics}

[eppur_se_muova]

Victoria Gill
Science reporter, BBC News

The stunning metallic green sheen of the "jewelled beetle" is produced by microscopic cells in its exoskeleton.

Researchers reporting in the journal Science have revealed that, with no green pigments, these structures make the beetle appear iridescent green.

These cells, they said, were almost identical to hi-tech liquid crystals.

The scientists found that the structures make the beetle appear very intensely green under light that is polarised in one direction.

Polarisation can be thought of as the orientation of light waves. And white light, or natural light, is essentially a mixture of randomly polarised light.
***
more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8166157.stm

[timeforpeace]

1. Scarce research dollars well spent.

[kestrel91316]

3. Yeah. No one could ever use this sort of knowledge for anything useful,

like maybe developing new forms of solar power harvesting or lighting or whatever.

Science is for pussies.

[Cobalt-60]

2. I want it for my clothes. Or perhaps my car.

If the Beetles can grow this biologically, perhaps they can devise a synthetic process.
It might be better than current methods.

[Canuckistanian]

4. And this is a breakthrough, how?

Iridescent coloring has long been known in everything from insects to bird feathers (hummingbirds, for exwmple).

[LongTomH]

5. Green Beetle?

Sounds like a Spiderman comics character!:eyes: