Bird feathers produce color through structure similar to beer foam.Byline: ANI Washington, April 4 (ANI): A new research by scientists at Yale University Yale University, at New Haven, Conn.; coeducational. Chartered as a collegiate school for men in 1701 largely as a result of the efforts of James Pierpont, it opened at Killingworth (now Clinton) in 1702, moved (1707) to Saybrook (now Old Saybrook), and in 1716 was , US, has discovered that the bright colors seen in bird feathers are created by tiny nanostructures with a structure similar to beer foam or a sponge. Most colors in nature are produced by pigments. But, the bright blue feathers found in many birds, such as Bluebirds and Blue Jays, are instead produced by nanostructures. Under an electron microscope electron microscope: see microscope. , these structures look like sponges with air bubbles. Now, an interdisciplinary team interdisciplinary team, n a group that consists of specialists from several fields combining skills and resources to present guidance and information. of Yale engineers, physicists and evolutionary biologists has taken a step toward uncovering how these structures form. They compared the nanostructures to examples of materials undergoing phase separation, in which mixtures of different substances become unstable and separate from one another, such as the carbon-dioxide bubbles that form when the top is popped off a bubbly drink. They found that the color-producing structures in feathers appear to self-assemble in much the same manner. Bubbles of water form in a protein-rich soup inside the living cell and are replaced with air as the feather grows. The research provides new insight into how organisms use self-assembly to produce color, and has important implications for the role color plays in birds' plumage plumage, of birds: see feathers. , as the color produced depends entirely on the precise size and shape of these nanostructures. "Many biologists think that plumage color can encode information about quality - basically, that a bluer male is a better mate," said Richard Prum, chair of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Some U.S. universities are home to degree programs entitled Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, offering integrated studies in the disciplines of ecology and evolutionary biology. . "Such information would have to be encoded in the feather as the bubbles grow. I think our hypothesis that phase separation is involved provides less opportunity for encoding information about quality than most biologists thought. At the same time, it's exciting to think about other ways birds might be using phase separation," he added. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Eric Dufresne, lead author of the research paper, "We have found that nature elegantly self assembles intricate optical structures in bird feathers. We are now mimicking this approach to make a new generation of optical materials Optical materials All substances used in the construction of devices or instruments whose function is to alter or control electromagnetic radiation in the ultraviolet, visible, or infrared spectral regions. in the lab." (ANI) Copyright 2009 Asian News International The Asian News International (ANI) agency provides multimedia news to China and 50 bureaus in India. It covers virtually all of South Asia since its foundation and presently claims, on its official website, to be the leading South Asia-wide news agency. (ANI) - All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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