This week, I want to post something cool that ds#1, my just-turned-13 year old shared with me:
The blue that is seen on most birds, such as blue jays and Eastern bluebirds is not a color. Rather, it's what is known as a structural color and depends on the physical structure of the feathers to reflect certain wavelengths of light. Destroy the structure, and the color is gone.
Reds, yellows, and browns, etc. are true colors and result from pigmentation (melanins, carotenoids, or porphyrins).
(Eastern bluebird image from http://animal.discovery.com/guides/wild-birds/d-h/eastern-bluebird.html)Reference: Handbook of Bird Biology by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe
21 comments:
Yep, that is totally random and weird!
Cool though!
That didn't sound very nice. " )
I meant that is weird that it isn't an actual color.
Kids are amazing aren't they?!! They read these facts and it is impressive what they learn. I had no idea about the color but very interesting to learn.
Wow - that is a cool fact! I hadn't heard that before.
Know what I learned today? That an animal's brain is large enough to tan its own hide. I didn't even know that brains were used to do that, but I guess you learn something new everyday.
I like what you learned better. It's much less gross ;D
I feel smart now. :)
I didn't know! Thanks for that and give a hug to ds#1 for such cool facts!
That is a genuinely interesting piece of information. I had no idea there was such a thing as "structural color".
Do butterflies have the same thing I wonder?
Carrie, I knew what you meant...LOL!
Michelle, I do love it when they learn on their own and remember!
Firefly Mom, I did know about the brain being used in tanning, actually; we were going to tan a hide one time (when our friends gave us an unprocessed sheep skin). Gross, but less nasty than the chemical method.
Blonde, you're always smart!
Alli, you're so sweet!
Ilona, just did a Google search, and it looks like the same applies to butterfly wing colors...neat!
You learn something new every day, as they say!
Cool!
That is seriously a cool fact I didn't know about birds and I grew up with birds!
Your son is definitely smarter than most people I meet on the streets. Course, that's not saying much. THanks for sharing that interesting tidbit, but I do have a question for you and Firefly mom: how do you tan a hide with a brain, flog it with the brain?
I love learning new random facts - especially about things like color. Because I'll actually remember them. Anything to do with chemistry? Not so much.
Ian, any day that I learn something new is a good day indeed! :)
Michelle-Chocolate, ds learned everything you ever wanted (or never wanted) to know about birds from that course from Cornell; it's a terrific textbook too!
Epi, you rub the brain all over the hide to "cure" it, or something like that. It's been a few years since I read about it. Obviously, learning something and retaining it are two vastly dichotomous things. :P
Keely, But you're the Super Un Mom...you can learn anything! ;) Thanks for stopping by!
I have some awards waiting for you on my blog!
Okay, does that mean that everything blue is not actually blue, or only birds? If it is only birds, does that mean that if the bird loses some of the "blue" feathers, but not all of them, the bird won't look blue?
As far as brains and hide tanning... I had no idea. I also think that we won't try tanning any hides in our homeschool. :-)
I had to laugh at Epicure68's question, I was wondering the same thing! I was picturing this person flogging a hide with a brain. Of course, being a brain, it would be messy and mushy and not flog the hide well. Not to mention, would the person hold the brain by the spinal cord or what? Of course, a spinal cord would probably rip. And then the grossness factor is getting really big in that image... Finally, my own brain, which I hope will never be used for tanning my hide, decided that this image was just too ridiculous and tried to visualize a different way a brain could be used to tan a hide....
Now I know why people get the Blues: it's in their structure.
I love it when my kids let me know random stuff like that. What cool info.
Thank you Maureensk! I'm sure the people at Bodyworlds could find a way to do it. Maybe we could suggest that as their next model, a cadaver holding a brain by the spinal cord like a whip next to the guy holding his own skin. :)
That is so cool!! I had no idea, but I'm loving how random this was. If I'm ever on a gameshow and this comes up...I'll be ready. :)
I love that it shows being posted on Monday but you need to get in on the Random Tuesday thoughts with us! We love you! I love you!
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