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Royal Institution
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From Butterfly Wings to Metamaterials
This video, from the Royal Institution, explains how the vivid blue colour of a butterfly’s wing is caused by the microstructure of the wings which only diffracts blue light. John Pendry, Professor of Physics at Imperial College, explains that he is currently carrying out research into ways of controlling light with a new class of materials called metamaterials. Curriculum links include light, diffraction, colour, biomimicry, materials.
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