Have you ever looked at the shimmer of a peacock's feathers or the metallic shine of a green June beetle and thought, “I bet those bright colors help that animal blend in with its natural habitat.†No? Well, you wouldn't be alone. When artist and naturalist Abbot Thayler first proposed that iridescence could be a
If you use social media, then you probably remember the uproar surrounding the optical illusion known as “The Dress.†Some people saw blue and black, others, white and gold. The vehement arguments over the color of the dress are a perfect example of how our perception can influence what we think of as reality. Unfortunately,
Nature influences us every day. Not only can we find beauty in the natural world, but scientists and engineers can also draw inspiration from animals and plants to solve problems. Bioinspiration, a term for taking biological principles and applying them to non-biological science and technology, has long been a driving force behind invention and the
Imagine standing on the deck of a ship out in the open ocean at night, in wonder at the twinkling stars. In the inky black water below you may also notice blinking, flashing lights, but it is not a reflection of the stars above. These bright displays are made by marine organisms via bioluminescence, a biological reaction that releases light. Researchers have found that as many as 3 out of every 4 species in the open ocean are capable of bioluminescence. It turns out that bioluminescence is a crucial communication tool for the majority of marine organisms, big or small.
When I was young I learned that the colors I saw in the world were due to materials absorbing certain wavelengths of light and reflecting others. Leaves appear green because the chlorophyll in plant cells absorbs blue and red light and reflects green. While this holds true for most natural materials, it turns out that nature has more than one way of making color. Many of the most striking colors found in nature often occur through the development of structural coloration. For instance, the absurdly bright colors of butterfly wings, beetle scales, day gecko skin, bird feathers and even certain berries all come from structural color.
When thinking of origami you may imagine brightly-colored squares of paper folded into cranes and flowers. But did you know that origami has inspired the design of many everyday objects including take-out boxes and airbags? The art of transforming flat sheets into 3D objects can be used to design many devices in our modern day world.
In popular culture, biologically-inspired robots play a sinister role. Movies like Blade Runner and The Terminator depict scenes of a humanoid faces split open to reveal violently grinning machines underneath. Such stories often portray machines in a dire “us vs. them†scenario. However, real life robots can have a much softer side. Taking inspiration from creatures such as jellyfish, rays, and octopuses, scientists are developing soft robots that can respond to different environments and can augment human capabilities.
An hour west of Los Angeles, the University of California, Riverside safeguards a golden treasure. Neat rows of green trees carry bright, vibrant medallions in many shades of yellow and orange. The Citrus Variety Collection, curated by Tracy Kahn, is a 22.3 acre orchard whose riches are not precious metals, but delicious, tangy fruit.
Often the ocean can look idyllic and inviting on the surface. Exploration of the sea floor, however, shows a harsh and unforgiving place. The Gulf of Mexico brine pools investigated by Erik Cordes and his colleagues are a model example. Subject to salinity more than four times the amount of normal seawater, and full of
