The secret to the sea sapphire's colors -- and invisibility
Sapphirina, or sea sapphire, has been called "the most beautiful animal you've never seen," and it could be one of the most magical. Some of the tiny, little-known copepods appear to flash in and out of brilliantly colored blue, violet or red existence. Now scientists are figuring out the trick to their hues and their invisibility. The findings appear in the Journal of the American Chemical Society and could inspire the next generation of optical technologies.
Dvir Gur, Ben Leshem, Maria Pierantoni, Viviana Farstey, Dan Oron, Steve Weiner, Lia Addadi. Structural Basis for the Brilliant Colors of the Sapphirinid Copepods. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2015; 137 (26): 8408 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b05289