Tuesday, 25 June 2013

The world's shiniest living thing is a fruit

Pollia condensata is a fruit and it's the shiniest living thing in the world. The principle behind P. Condensata‘s gorgeous finish is basically the same as behind an iridescent beetle’s wings. The cells in the fruit’s husk contain layers of fibers that run parallel to one another, with each layer turned slightly relative to the one beneath it.

Each layer reflects some of the light that hits it, and the spiral structure makes the reflected light waves line up so that they intensify each other. The wavelength of the light may be different from cell to cell, but all of them reflect extra-intensified light.
The result is a mixture of really bright colors. This type of iridescent coloration was supposed to be reserved for insect wings and bird feathers P. Condensata is the first time it’s been seen in a plant. The fruits reflect more light than any other known living thing.

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