The physical basis of the beauty in peacock feathers revealed

Nobody looking at the patterns in peacock feathers can avoid
beingamazed at their beauty. One of the latest pieces of research by
scientists has revealed that there is an astonishing design at the
basis of these patterns.
Chinese scientists have discovered a delicate mechanism of tiny hairs
in peacock feathers filtering and reflecting different wavelengths
oflight. According to a study performed by Fudan University physicist
Jian Zi and colleagues, published in the journal Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, the feathers'bright colors are produced
not by pigments, but by tiny, two-dimensional crystal-like structures.
(1)
Zi and his colleagues used powerful electron microscopes to reveal the
basis of the colors in the feathers. They examined the barbules of the
male green peacock (Pavo rnuticus), in other words the even smaller
micro hairs that come off of barbs emerging from the central stem of
the feather. Under the microscope, they encountered the lattice design
in the black-and-white picture to theright. This consisted of rods
made of melanin, a protein, bound together with keratin, another
protein. The researchers observed that these two-dimensional
structures, each with a width hundreds of timesthinner than a human
hair, were arranged onebehind the other on the micro hairs. Using
additional optical examinations and calculations, the scientists
examined the spaces between the crystals and their effects.As a
result, it was revealed that the dimensions and shapes of these spaces
in the lattice led to light being reflected at slightly different
angles and thus to a variation in color.
" The male peacock tail contains spectacular beauty because of the
brilliant, iridescent, diversified, colorful eye patterns ," said Zi,
who continued, " when I watched the eye patternagainst the sunshine, I
was amazed by the stunning beauty of the feathers ." (2) Zi stated
that until their study, theexact physical mechanism producing the
colors in peacock feathers had not been known, and that although the
mechanisms they had revealed were simple, they were absolutely
ingenious.
Obviously, there is a veryspecially regulated design in peacock
feather patterns. The tiny lattices and spaces between them are of
thegreatest importance in this design. The adjustment between
thespaces is particularly striking. Were these not so arranged as to
reflect light at slightly different angles to one another, then this
variation in color would not take place.
The greater part of the color in the peacock feather is based upon
structural coloration. There is no pigment in those parts of the
feather that exhibit structural coloration, and colors reminiscent of
those on the surface of a soap bubble are able to emerge. The color of
human hair comes from pigment, and no matter how much care a person
may take of his or her hair, it is never as shiny and beautiful as a
peacock feather.
It has also been stated that this intelligent design in the peacock
can be a source of inspiration in industrial design. Andrew Parker,
azoologist and coloration expert at the University of Oxford, who
interpreted Zi's findings says that discovering so-called photonic
crystals in peacock feathers could allow scientists to adapt the
structures for industrial and commercial applications. These crystals
could be used to channel light in telecommunications equipment, or to
create new tiny computer chips. (3)
It is clear that the peacock has marvelous patterns and a special
design, and that thanks to the imitation of this mechanism, maybe in
the near future, we shall see objects and accessories covered in the
brightest of coatings. Yet how did such a gorgeous, intelligent and
inspirational design first emerge? Could the peacock know that the
colors in its feathers depended on crystals and the spaces between
them? Could the feather have itself brought the feathers on its body
into being and later have decided to add a coloring mechanism to them?
Could it then have arranged that mechanism in such a way as to produce
those stunning designs? Of course, not.
For example, if we were to encounter marvelous patterns made out of
colored stones as we walked beside the edge of a river, and if we also
saw that there were eye-like designs arranged like a fan, thenwe would
think that these had been laid out in a conscious manner, and not that
they had appeared by chance. It would be evident that these patterns,
reflectingan artistic perspective and addressing human aesthetic
tastes, had been made by an artist. The same thing applies to peacock
feathers. In the same way that pictures and designs reveal the
existence of the artists who produced them, the patterns in the
peacock feather reveal the existence of the Creator Who made them.
There can be no doubt but thatit is God Who brought together and
arranged the crystal-like structuresin the peacock feather and
produced such marvelous patterns fromthem. God reveals His flawless
creation in a verse from the Qur'an:
He is God - the Creator, the Maker, the Giver of Form. To Him belong
the Most Beautiful Names. Everything in the heavens and Earth
glorifies Him. He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. (Qur'an, 59:24)
1- Jian Zi et al,"Coloration strategies in peacock feathers", PNAS
2003;100 12576-12578;
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/100/22/12576?etoc
2- John Pickrell , "PhysicsPlucks Secret of Peacock Feather Colors",
17 Ekim 2003, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/10/1016_031017_peacockcolors.html
3- Ibid.