* Astronomy

Feathers show their true colours

For millennia birds have been prized, even hunted, for their beautiful plumage but what makes their feathers so colourful?
A new X-ray analysis of the structure of feathers from 230 bird species, led by Vinod Saranathan of Oxford Universitys Department of Zoology, has revealed the nanostructures behind certain colours of feather, structures that could inspire new photonic devices.
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