Beetle Naturally Builds Photonic Crystals

esocid writes "Impeding the dream of ultrafast optical computers, we've been unable to build an ideal 'photonic crystal' to manipulate visible light, until now. University of Utah chemists have discovered that nature already has designed photonic crystals with the ideal, diamond-like structure: They are found in the shimmering, iridescent green scales of a beetle from Brazil. The beetle is an inch-long weevil named Lamprocyphus augustus. Bartl and Galusha now are trying to design a synthetic version of the beetle's photonic crystals, using scale material as a mold to make the crystals from a transparent semiconductor. The scales can't be used in technological devices because they are made of fingernail-like chitin, which is not stable enough for long-term use, is not semiconducting and doesn't bend light adequately. Ideal photonic crystals could be used to amplify light and thus make solar cells more efficient, to capture light that would catalyze chemical reactions, and to generate tiny laser beams that would serve as light sources on optical chips."

Comments

Re:Why Nature wins

[Kral_Blbec]

According to the theory of evolution, everything develops because it randomly mutates and gives an individual some sort of reproductive advantage that increases its chances of reproducing and passing the trait along. That kind of breaks down when you have stuff like this come up that is so uniquely developed. Where did it begin? What "advantage" is the crystal structure over a normal green coloring? How was that so important to propagate over the entire species and develop so far? At some point there had to have been some beetle that had a slightly crystalic formation, and then its offspring had a little more advanced crystal etc etc.

Some traits it is obvious how it could develop, ie walking upright. It has a continuous advantage than increases as it develops. But something like this has absolutely no reason to develop. It might make it shiny green NOW that it IS developed. But during the eons of time it would take then it has no reason to do so. Another example going farther off topic, an elephants trunk. A long trunk is obviously helpful. But where was the cow/horse/whatever like animal that was so reproductively successful because its nose was genetically predisposed to be .1 inches longer than the others?

But this being slashdot ill probably get flamed for criticizing evolution and defending intelligent design.