Jan-29-13
A tropical fruit has inspired the development of a fiber that changes color in response to strain.
When the bastard hogberry floats in water, the color of its seeds seems to change, which evolved to encourage birds to eat and spread its seeds. This apparent change is due to a curved, repeating pattern in the upper cells of the seed’s skin that creates color by interfering with light waves.
The researchers, from Harvard University and the University of Exeter, replicated the fruit’s ability by creating photonic fibers made of multiple layers of polymer wrapped around a glass core. The glass core is later removed, leaving only fiber made of polymer layers. The apparent color of the fiber changes depending upon the thickness of the layer, which causes the fiber to appear red at its thickest and range to blue as it becomes thinner or strained.
Image: Mathias Kolle
More Info about this Invention:
[
HARVARD.EDU]
[
PHYS ORG]
Show 1 Comment