Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily
Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate and environment, computers, engineering, health and medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
'Chameleon of the sea' reveals its secrets
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/ottZkKTroY0/140128202045.htm
Jan 29th 2014, 01:20
Scientists at Harvard University and the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) hope new understanding of the natural nanoscale photonic device that enables a small marine animal to dynamically change its colors will inspire improved protective camouflage for soldiers on the battlefield.
The cuttlefish, known as the "chameleon of the sea," can rapidly alter both the color and pattern of its skin, helping it blend in with its surroundings and avoid predators. In a paper published January 29 in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, the Harvard-MBL team reports new details on the sophisticated biomolecular nanophotonic system underlying the cuttlefish's color-changing ways.
"Nature solved the riddle of adaptive camouflage a long time ago," said Kevin Kit Parker, Tarr Family Professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and core faculty member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard. "Now the challenge is to reverse-engineer this system in a cost-efficient, synthetic system that is amenable to mass manufacturing."
In addition to textiles for military camouflage, the findings could also have applications in materials for paints, cosmetics, and consumer electronics.
The cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) is a cephalopod, like squid and octopuses. Neurally controlled, pigmented organs called chromatophores allow it to change its appearance in response to visual clues, but scientists have had an incomplete understanding of the biological, chemical, and optical functions that make this adaptive coloration possible.
To regulate its color, the cuttlefish relies on a vertically arranged assembly of three optical components: the leucophore, a near-perfect light scatterer that reflects light uniformly over the entire visible spectrum; the iridophore, a reflector comprising a stack of thin films; and the chromatophore. This layering enables the skin of the animal to selectively absorb or reflect light of different colors, said coauthor Leila F. Deravi, a research associate in bioengineering at Harvard SEAS.
"Chromatophores were previously considered to be pigmentary organs that acted simply as selective color filters," Deravi said. "But our results suggest that they play a more complex role; they contain luminescent protein nanostructures that enable the cuttlefish to make quick and elaborate changes in its skin pigmentation."
When the cuttlefish actuates its coloration system, each chromatophore expands; the surface area can change as much as 500 percent. The Harvard-MBL team showed that within the chromatophore, tethered pigment granules regulate light through absorbance, reflection, and fluorescence, in effect functioning as nanoscale photonic elements, even as the chromatophore changes in size.
"The cuttlefish uses an ingenious approach to materials composition and structure, one that we have never employed in our engineered displays," said coauthor Evelyn Hu, Tarr-Coyne Professor of Applied Physics and of Electrical Engineering at SEAS. "It is extremely challenging for us to replicate the mechanisms that the cuttlefish uses. For example, we cannot yet engineer materials that have the elasticity to expand 500 times in surface area. And were we able to do so, the richness of color of the expanded and unexpanded material would be dramatically different -- think of stretching and shrinking a balloon. The cuttlefish may have found a way to compensate for this change in richness of color by being an 'active' light emitter (fluorescent), not simply modulating light through passive reflection."
The team also included Roger Hanlon and his colleagues at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass. Hanlon's lab has examined adaptive coloration in the cuttlefish and other invertebrates for many years.
"Cuttlefish skin is unique for its dynamic patterning and speed of change," Hanlon said. "Deciphering the relative roles of pigments and reflectors in soft, flexible skin is a key step to translating the principles of actuation to materials science and engineering. This collaborative project expanded our breadth of inquiry and uncovered several useful surprises, such as the tether system that connects the individual pigment granules."
For Parker, an Army reservist who completed two tours of duty in Afghanistan, using the cuttlefish to find a biologically inspired design for new types of military camouflage is more than an academic pursuit. He understands first-hand that poor camouflage patterns can cost lives on the battlefield.
"Throughout history, people have dreamed of having an 'invisible suit,'" Parker said. "Nature solved that problem, and now it's up to us to replicate this genius so, like the cuttlefish, we can avoid our predators."
In addition to Parker, Hu, Hanlon, and Deravi, the coauthors of the Interface paper are: Andrew P. Magyar, a former postdoctoral student in Hu's group; Sean P. Sheehy, a graduate student in Parker's group; and George R. R. Bell, Lydia M. Mäthger, Stephen L. Senft, Trevor J. Wardill, and Alan M. Kuzirian, who all work with Hanlon in the Program in Sensory Physiology and Behavior at the Marine Biological Laboratory.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at https://blogtrottr.com
If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe here:
https://blogtrottr.com/unsubscribe/cz0/tSbHWJ
订阅:
博文评论 (Atom)
博客归档
-
▼
2014
(3023)
-
▼
一月
(1236)
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 配置各不同 三星Galaxy S5型号共有18种
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 搭载骁龙800 三星曝首款Tizen手机官方图
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 低分辨率/联发科CPU HTC低端新机曝光
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 中国概念股周五收盘涨跌互现 360股价破100美元
- Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily: One planet, t...
- Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily: Forensic expe...
- Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily: How neurons c...
- Solidot: 老年人的大脑不迟钝,他们只是需要时间处理信息
- Solidot: 第一家公立大学支持比特币支付学费
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 空中网宣布将收购联众少数股权
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 微信红包或存漏洞:泄露银行卡信息及提现记录
- Solidot: LibreOffice 4.2 发布
- Solidot: 20%的尼安德特人基因组留在现代人类基因中
- Solidot: Debian init系统投票结果是...
- Solidot: 比特币中国恢复人民币存款支付,再次成为最大交易平台
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 打车软件暗藏隐患:诱发危险驾驶 助推黑车生意
- 网易科技频道IT业界新闻: 2013年Android手机占近80% iOS下降至15%
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 大屏之争 酷派大神与小米3对比评测
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 千万像素6英寸八核机 中兴Memo II评测
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 2100万像素?疑似三星Galaxy S5摄像头样张曝光
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 中国概念股周四收盘涨跌互现 奇虎360涨6.8%
- Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily: Cell cycle sp...
- Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily: Nearly everyo...
- Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily: Researchers d...
- Solidot: 英国政府考虑切换到开源办公软件
- Solidot: 真实的绝命毒师游荡在互联网上
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 京东招股书概要:“最后一公里”物流仍是挑战
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: Facebook净利增7.2倍盘前暴涨18%
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 京东股权结构:刘强东持股18.4%
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: IPO文件显示:京东融资及发展史
- Solidot: 3.7万名玩家成为论文的共同作者
- Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily: Dinosaur foss...
- Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily: Blood and lym...
- Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily: Disappearing ...
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 爱立信发布2013年第四季度及全年财报
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 联想CFO:无需为收购摩托罗拉移动在债市融资
- Solidot: 利用盗链建立视频网站的创建者被判入狱半年
- Solidot: Edward Snowden被提名为诺贝尔和平奖候选人
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 除夕微米再升级 借“活动”让社交走向线下
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 沈阳:大量群发短信及内容涉黄赌毒手机可被锁
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 美媒:阿里巴巴并非增长缓慢 马云另有安排
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 联想集团港股早盘大跌7%
- 网易科技频道IT业界新闻: 杨元庆:对moto心仪很久 最后闪婚
- 网易科技频道IT业界新闻: 为何联想只卖了摩托2000个专利
- 网易科技频道IT业界新闻: Moto移动是给刘军的大礼,也是大考验
- Solidot: 联想29亿美元收购摩托罗拉移动,不包括专利
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 巨屏新旗舰 诺基亚Lumia 1820 MWC发布
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 新增2项专利 iPhone相机或支持更换镜头
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: iOS 7.0.5发布 修正国行版网络配置
- 网易科技频道IT业界新闻: 赛门铁克第三财季净利2.83亿美元 同比增长31%
- 网易科技频道IT业界新闻: 快讯:联想29亿美元收购摩托罗拉移动
- Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily: Digital test ...
- Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily: Running may b...
- Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily: Resetting, un...
- Solidot: 美国出口监管迫使Coursera拒绝来自古巴、伊朗、叙利亚和苏丹的学生
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: Evercore调降雅虎目标价和阿里估值
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 盛大游戏成立特别委员会评估私有化要约
- Solidot: 中国富豪买不到Virgin Galactic的近太空旅游机票
- Solidot: 中国开发者推出马克思币
- Solidot: 硅谷企业的自满
- 网易科技频道IT业界新闻: 任天堂前三财季财报:净利润同比下跌30%
- Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily: Tropics are m...
- Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily: New NASA lase...
- Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily: 'Chameleon of...
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 500彩票网宣布与中国移动子公司达成合作
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 国美等获虚拟运营商牌照 将提供专属移动服务
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 苏宁:冲刺中国最大虚拟运营商
- Solidot: 中国禽流感确诊病例达到110例,可能存在有限的人传人能力
- Solidot: 盖茨亲自遴选微软下一任CEO
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 中芯国际2月18日发布第四季度财报
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 美国运营商AT&T公布第四季度财报:同比扭亏
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 伊坎称抛售股票者误读苹果财报
- Solidot: NSA利用手机应用数据挖掘情报
- Solidot: 五大国有银行被迫加息应对余额宝
- 网易科技频道IT业界新闻: 北京购纯电动车者最高补贴10.8万 特斯拉不在列
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 传闻所谓诺基亚安卓手机实为双卡WP8手机
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 富士X-T1发布会真机图赏 3款三防镜头亮相
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 去年Q3全球互联网网速增长29%至3.6Mbps
- 网易科技频道IT业界新闻: 谷歌宣布与眼科保健商VSP Global合作
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 或为最广全幅超广头 佳能11-24mm专利公开
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 双卡双待金属手机 HTC 802d行货售2898
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 松下将于2月7日发布4K微单 售价约2000美元
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 揪出隐形杀手 五招教你消灭家电噪音
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 五彩缤纷迎除夕 绚烂时尚液晶推荐
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 买得起才是硬道理 工薪族购空调首选机型
- 网易科技频道IT业界新闻: 雅虎第四季度运营利润1.74亿美元 同比下滑8%
- 网易科技频道IT业界新闻: IBM拟出售SDN业务报价10亿美元
- 网易科技频道IT业界新闻: 激进投资人伊坎周二再增持5亿美元苹果股票
- 网易科技频道IT业界新闻: 黑莓发布10.2.1版黑莓10系统更新
- 网易科技频道IT业界新闻: 艺电第三财季净亏3.08亿美元 同比扩大
- 网易科技频道IT业界新闻: 传亚马逊年内发布低于300美元的Android游戏机
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 自拍神器节前促销 卡西欧TR350售6399
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 全新升级体验 索尼RX100II相机仅3750
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 2230万像素全画幅 佳能5D3套机21300元
- 网易科技频道IT业界新闻: 苹果首季业绩稍逊预期:iPhone销量创纪录
- Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily: Parenting pla...
- Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily: Study shows v...
- Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily: Measuring wai...
- 科技要闻-新浪科技: 北京电信开通国际双号服务 易信用户可免费体验
- Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily: Don't judge o...
-
▼
一月
(1236)
没有评论:
发表评论