materials science

  • How Nanoscale Optics Create Nature’s Most Dazzling Colours

    How Nanoscale Optics Create Nature’s Most Dazzling Colours

    What do a butterfly’s shimmering wings, a fish’s opalescent scales, and a peacock’s brilliant feathers have in common? Yes, their colours are beautifully iridescent. But they are also produced by the physical interaction of light with sophisticated nanoscale architecture that we are only just beginning to understand.