Scatterings
Going for the Gold: Metallic Beetles Bring Bling
Researchers at the University of Costa Rica are studying how two beetles create the gold and silver on their backs.
The Chrysina limbata (silver) and the Chrysina aurigans (gold) beetle specimens display their brilliant golden and silver appearance.
Gold leaf isn’t the only way to produce a gold-colored surface. Cristian Campos-Fernández and other researchers at the University of Costa Rica are studying how two beetles create the gold and silver on their backs (Optical Materials Express, 1(1), 85-100, 2011, doi:10.1364/OME.1.000085). The lessons learned by studying the gold-colored Chrysina aurigans and the silvery Chrysina limbata may allow researchers to nanoengineer surfaces to have similar characteristics.
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