Microstructures make a beetle brilliant.Engineers looking to make a variety, of surfaces whiter and brighter could learn a few things from a lowly low·ly adj. low·li·er, low·li·est 1. Having or suited for a low rank or position. 2. Humble or meek in manner. 3. Plain or prosaic in nature. adv. 1. beetle beetle, common name for insects of the order Coleoptera, which, with more than 300,000 described species, is the largest of the insect orders. Beetles have chewing mouthparts and well-developed antennae. , a new study suggests. The tiny scales that cover several beetles beetles members of the insect order Coleoptera. They are common intermediate hosts for tapeworms. darkling beetles this and other mealworms are common inhabitants of poultry houses and are suspected of aiding in the transmission of in the Cyphochilus genus of southeastern Asia are much whiter than natural sub stances such as milk and tooth enamel enamel, a siliceous substance fusible upon metal. It may be so compounded as to be transparent or opaque and with or without color, but it is usually employed to add decorative color. It was used to decorate jewelry in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. and are almost as bright as a sheet of paper, says Pete Vukusic, a physicist at Exeter University in England. Microscopic analyses of white Cyphoehilus scales show that their brilliance isn't a result of any pigment. Indeed, the scales are made of a translucent material called chitin. The whiteness of the 5-micrometer-thick scales stems from their internal microstructure--a loosely packed, chaotic network of chitin filaments. The random orientation and spacing of the 250-nanometer-diameter fibers causes the scales to reflect all visible wave-lengths equally, making them appear white. Manufactured materials that duplicate the microstructures in Cyphochilus scales could have a variety of uses, Vukusic and his colleagues suggest in the Jan. 19 Science. Such substances might replace some or all of the tons of minerals used each year to brighten bright·en tr. & intr.v. bright·ened, bright·en·ing, bright·ens To make or become bright or brighter. bright the surface of paper, or they could be incorporated into tooth-whitening veneers. Also, engineers could use the material to line the inside of light fixtures, making them more energy-efficient.--S.P. |
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