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A DECADE OF HEALTH FOCUS. "During the last decade, tobacco control has enjoyed a historically remarkable prominence within international health, a status epitomised by the extensive ratification of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the first international public health treaty negotiated by the WHO." http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/21/2/274.full View in LinkedIn

INFLUENCING WING COLOR. "They've changed the color of butterfly wings ... by influencing evolution. The desired color for the butterfly wings was achieved by changing the relative thickness of the wing scales -- specifically, those of the lower lamina. It took less than a year of selective breeding to produce the color change from brown to violet." https://lnkd.in/d9XCZcF View in LinkedIn

NANOMETER GYROID IRRIDESCENCE. "The majority of butterfly colors are pigmentary. However, scientists have now found out that vibrant green wing colors can also be induced by complex three dimensional crystals – called gyroids ... The gyroid network forms during the butterflies’ cocoon phase and refracts light in the adult insect’s wing." http://www.micronaut.ch/shop/gyroid-structures/ View in LinkedIn

BUTTERFLY SCALE GYROIDS. "A gyroid is shaped like a stack of boomerangs, each with three blades, that are oriented in alternating directions ... butterflies modify these into unique single gyroid structures, which allow all wavelengths of light to pass through except for one, which reflects. The size of the gyroid structure is what determines the color." http://www.livescience.com/6606-source-shimmering-butterfly-wing-colors-revealed.html View in LinkedIn

STRUCTURAL COLORATION. "Rather than statically absorb and reflect certain light wavelengths as pigments and dyes do, these structures selectively cancel out certain colors through wavelength interference while reflecting others ... This system of producing color allows for the dynamic control of light flow and wavelength interaction." https://lnkd.in/dyyrxPR View in LinkedIn

BRILLIANT WING COLORS. "Structural colors are created by ... interference, refraction, or diffraction ... rather than by a pigment ... the arrangement of physical structures interacting with light ... The iridescence is caused by multiple slit interference ... "Interference" occurs when light hitting the wing interacts with light reflected off the wing." https://lnkd.in/dZxyWvW View in LinkedIn

THREE TYPES OF BUTTERFLY WING SCALES. 1. Pigmentary scales are mostly flat. Their colour is the result of the presence of chemical pigments. 2. Structural scales: refraction, diffraction and interference patterns of light as it strikes or passes through the semi-transparent structural scales. 3. Androconia: tiny sacs containing scent ( pheromones ). https://lnkd.in/dQ6RpKU View in LinkedIn

TWITTER PICTURES for these blogs are available if you care to be visual. Twitter@TenFleming View in LinkedIn

A FRAGMENT FROM NATURE, like this set of today's entries will be periodically inserted into longer or transitioning blogs to give us all a moment's pause, on an unrelated topic. Sometimes a blog chapter needs a pure fragment from nature along the way to contrast with the pig's ear that we so often make of our human societies. View in LinkedIn

"THE WHO FRAMEWORK CONVENTION on Tobacco Control (FCTC) demonstrates the international political will invested in combating the tobacco pandemic and a newfound prominence for tobacco control within the global health agenda. However, major difficulties exist in managing conflicts with foreign and trade policy priorities." http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/21/2/274.full View in LinkedIn