"Blue is consistently voted the world’s most popular color. However, in the animal and plant world, the color blue is quite rare.
When it does occur, it is often not from a blue pigment as such.
--Pigments work by subtraction: they absorb some color wavelengths and reflect only part of them back to our eyes. E.g., a pigment we perceive as ‘red’ reflects only the red wavelengths, absorbing the rest.....most blues in the natural world are wholly or in part from structural color. This color results when light interacts with various microscopic structures on the organism’s surface. The nature of the interaction can vary—examples are diffraction, interference, and scattering. Such clever design ensures that we mostly see the blue wavelength of the light spectrum. Human engineers work hard to copy those structures, called bio-inspired nanophotonics.
What about the color of blueberries, a favorite with children and adults alike? The fleshy interior of the fruit contains an actual
pigment called anthocyanin, a powerful antioxidant. This creates a deep reddish-purple shade, quite different to the indigo color of the fruit skin.
However, like the majority of plants, blueberries are coated in an extremely thin layer of protective wax (bloom). This helps prevent infection and water loss through the skin. Recent research found that microscopic, randomly-arranged crystals in the berries’ waxy coating scatter blue and ultraviolet wavelengths of light, giving blueberries their trademark bluish color.
Indeed, fine-tuning is one of the hallmarks of design in our world. This is reinforced by all the brilliant scientists and engineers trying to copy such designs, a fast-expanding field called biomimetics. God created plants and their fruit, with a built-in capacity to vary within limits, on Day 3 of Creation Week."
What about the color of blueberries, a favorite with children and adults alike? The fleshy interior of the fruit contains an actual
However, like the majority of plants, blueberries are coated in an extremely thin layer of protective wax (bloom). This helps prevent infection and water loss through the skin. Recent research found that microscopic, randomly-arranged crystals in the berries’ waxy coating scatter blue and ultraviolet wavelengths of light, giving blueberries their trademark bluish color.
Indeed, fine-tuning is one of the hallmarks of design in our world. This is reinforced by all the brilliant scientists and engineers trying to copy such designs, a fast-expanding field called biomimetics. God created plants and their fruit, with a built-in capacity to vary within limits, on Day 3 of Creation Week."
CMI
