Tag: optics
-
Cephalopods, from head to foot, part 2: Here’s lookin’ at you, squid
Much thanks to my brother for the excellent title. First, let’s talk a bit about how eyes evolved in general. First, there was the eyespot–a cell, or even part of a single celled organism, that has chemicals that react to light. It can’t really see beyond “there is light” vs “there isn’t light”, but even…
-
Hummingbirds and peacocks are lying to us
Well, sort of. That blue or green color you see in a lot of peacock and hummingbird feathers (and butterfly wings)? Isn’t really there, at least not in the usual sense. It all has to do with structural color. First, a brief explanation of color. Some of the details are a bit complicated (here are…