Butterfly-inspired films create vibrant colors while passively cooling objects

https://phys.org/news/2023-08-butterfly-inspired-vibrant-passively-cooling.html

On a hot summer day, white clothing feels cooler than other colors due to reflecting—not absorbing—sunlight. Other colors like blue or black, will undergo a heating effect as they absorb light. To circumvent this heating effect in colored cooling films, researchers drew inspiration from nanostructures in butterfly wings.

26 points · 2 comments · view on lemmy.world

2 Comments

PondSkimmer@slrpnk.net · 4 pts · 2y

This is so cool! I love it when things are functional and beautiful. I hope this can be used in the future to keep our communities cool and vibrant.

Darthjaffacake@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2y

Had the pleasure of doing a work experience in a university research lab on photonic structures made of crystal cellulose and can confirm they're very very kool! The ideas have been around for a long while but now they're really kicking into gear with pigment replacement that's biodegradable