Month: September 2022

TWO COMPONENTS. "The elaborate morphologies and abundant functional structures of many biominerals are caused by a biologically mediated combination of organic substances with inorganic material at the nanometer scale." https://lnkd.in/d2qZRG4 View in LinkedIn

FEATHER STRENGTHENING. "Iridescent bird feathers may also be stronger than some non-iridescent or white feathers. Iridescent feathers commonly involve the pigment melanin as a structural element, and melanized feathers are sometimes stronger than unmelanized feathers." http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/6/Suppl_2/S115 View in LinkedIn

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STRUCTURAL COLORS IN NATURE. A lovely summary of irridescence physics in natural objects, and the effects of diffraction gratings and light interference. https://lnkd.in/dxCbUNp View in LinkedIn

HUMBLE LIMPET IRRIDESCENT SPOTS. "Apart from the well-known pearly appearance on the smooth inside surfaces of many shells, iridescent coloration is relatively rare for seashells. A possible reason could be that their outside surfaces are invariably exposed to harsh abrasive conditions, which will quickly erode away any delicate microstructure smooth enough to create optical interference effects." https://lnkd.in/dtxJCX4 View in LinkedIn

SEASHELL IRIDESCENCE. "Nacre is iridescent because the thickness of the calcium carbonate layer is similar to the wavelength of light. Light reflected from the outer surface is therefore able to interfere with light reflected from the inner surface. Constructive and destructive interference of different wavelengths of light produces different colors when viewed at different angles of incident light." https://lnkd.in/dw-9h_i View in LinkedIn

STRUCTURAL COLORS OF NACRE. "The lustrous nacre of the abalone shell is made up of polygonal (usually hexagonal) tiles of a very hard crystalline form of calcium carbonate, aragonite, cemented in a thin matrix of conchiolin – polysaccharide and protein fibres. The tiles are each a single crystal and are tessellated in stacked layers. Each layer is 0.5 micron thick.” https://lnkd.in/d8KK5dD View in LinkedIn

SHELL PHOTONIC CRYSTALS. "The dry ligament of Pinctada maxima normally appears black; however, it can exhibit striking blue structural colors after being wetted by water. The field-mission SEM investigation shows that the ligament is made of lamellae … the fibers are highly aligned characterized by a 2D photonic crystal type structure." http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11434-007-0142-z View in LinkedIn

FUNCTION OF IRIDESCENCE. "Because iridescent colours are so striking in appearance, it is tempting to ascribe a communicative function to all forms of iridescence. Yet, the evolution of iridescence predates the evolution of eyes … not all iridescent colours function in communication." A lovely review. https://lnkd.in/dmEiMbu View in LinkedIn

MATHEMATICS OF SEASHELL IRIDESCENCE. Here it is in a single elegant descriptive formula based on beautiful multilayered structures shared by some shells and some beetles. http://home.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/~kin/publications/PG00/iridescent_colors.pdf View in LinkedIn