NEWS ABOUT NATURE’S IRIDESCENT SHINE HAPPENING NOW

Iridescent shine makes some creatures look as if they are made out of rainbows. There’s exciting news about how this happens and how it might be used to bring beautiful new shine to the world.

Now we know how animals get their shine.

Researchers from the University of Bristol recently announced that they had found the mechanism that creates iridescence in birds, fish, insects, reptiles, and other species.

Their beautiful iridescent shine comes from disordered nanosized crystal structures in multiple layers that bounce light around in a way that causes the shimmering effect.

Multilayer optical reflectors constructed from ‘stacks’ of alternating layers of high and low refractive index dielectric materials are present in many animals. 

Some fish, for example, have stacks of guanine crystals with cytoplasm gaps within their skin and scales. Insects and other species have similar stacks, made of different types of protein-based crystals.

There are different degrees of random variation in the thicknesses of the individual reflective layers in the stacks. 

The research findings were published in a recent issue of the Journal Interface.

Stacks of protein platelets with cytoplasm gaps occur within the iridophores of cephalopods.

The female common market squid (Doryteuthis opalescens) has iridescent stripes that can switch color.

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara recently discovered that they contain switchable white cells based on reflectins –– the proteins responsible for reflecting light as color. The findings are published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

The current research builds on the researchers’ previous findings that identified the neurotransmitter acetylcholine as the mechanism responsible for the dramatic changes in color used by some squid and octopi. 

The switchable color and white cells have two different systems for reflecting light.

The internal arrangement of the reflectins in switchable color cells, called iridocytes, creates an accordion-like structure.

Switchable white cells, called leucophores, contain different reflectins, in spherical structures of varying sizes and shapes. So light reflects its shine in two distinct ways: Bragg reflection and Mie scattering.

This new discovery offers proof that transparent protein polymers can be used to produce nanostructures that control the behavior of light.

This could bring a whole new kind of beautiful shine to advanced materials, with cool optical and electronic applications.

Read more about Beautiful Shine, as they relate to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including 10 Books That Shine Now.

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IMAGE CREDITS

1. Image: Courtesy of Tilgate Nature Centre. Purple Glossy Starling.
2. Photo: by Brooke Alexander for the USGS Bee Inventory & Monitoring Lab. Caenochrysis doriae.
3. Photo: by Sam Droege for the USGS Bee Inventory & Monitoring Lab. Orchid Bee Purple.
4. Photo: by BlueRidgeKitties. Iridescent.
5. Photo: by Scorpions and Centaurs. Iridescent Butterfly Wings.
6. Photo: by Jenny Downing. Iridescence.
7. Photo: by Karelj. Tridacna maxima.
8. Photo: by Monteregina (Nicole). European Starling - Étourneau Sansonnet.
9. Image: by Toby F.T. Collins. Courtesy of Marine Biological Association of the UK. Alloteuthis subulata.
10. Photo: by Daniel DeMartini Courtesy of Phys.org. Female-specific Iridescent Stripes in the Skin of the Common Market Squid.
11. Image: by Daniel DeMartini. Courtesy of UCSB. Female-specific Iridescent Stripes in the Skin of the Common Market Squid.
12. Image: Courtesy of ferrebeekeeper. Blue Ringed Octopus.
13. Image: by Andrei Petukhov. Courtesy of Project Science. Order generated by colloidal micro-spheres.
14. Photo: by USGS Bee Inventory & Monitoring Lab. Augochloropsis anonyma.
15. Photo: by Stefan Siebert, Brown University. The iridescent comb rows and internal structures of Mnemiopsis leidyi.
16. Photo: by Bill Gracey. Hummingbird With An Iridescent Pink Throat.
17. Photo: by Szoki Adams. Beauty of the Beast.