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What Bird Feathers and Beer Foam Have In Common

Posted by timothy on from the can-reach-great-altitude dept.

Rational Egoist writes "Researchers at Yale University have found that some of the brightest colors in bird feathers are created through structures similar in origin and composition to that of beer foam. Unlike with most colors in nature — which are produced by pigments — the bright blue colors of Bluebirds and Blue Jays are actually produced by sponge-like nanostructures. These structures are formed in quite the same way as beer foam. From the article: '[Researchers] compared the nanostructures to examples of materials undergoing phase separation, in which mixtures of different substances become unstable and separate from one another, such as the carbon-dioxide bubbles that form when the top is popped off a bubbly drink. They found that the color-producing structures in feathers appear to self-assemble in much the same manner. Bubbles of water form in a protein-rich soup inside the living cell and are replaced with air as the feather grows.'"

36 comments

  1. So when will... by Lulfas · · Score: 2, Funny

    I be able to get a pint of bird feathers flown to me? And still get me drunk?

    1. Re:So when will... by tjonnyc999 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm sure there's a team of scientists over at MIT or Stanford, working hard on the next-generation bird-based beer-delivery system. Have some faith in science, man!

    2. Re:So when will... by tjonnyc999 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hrm. "Nanobeer" - from the makers of "Brawndo"?

  2. Without RTFS by Renderer+of+Evil · · Score: 4, Funny

    What Bird Feathers and Beer Foam Have In Common

    Failed amazon.com experiments with new packing materials

    1. Re:Without RTFS by Lulfas · · Score: 2, Funny

      Beer foam would be a great packing material. I just bought an AA book the other day, would've helped :(

  3. How much are they after? by newcastlejon · · Score: 1

    Nanostructures? check. Self-assembly? check. Later, Nature uses foams for low weight, high strength stuff. News at 11.

    --
    If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
  4. It's got what cells crave. by spazdor · · Score: 2, Funny

    Electrolytes!

    --
    DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
  5. What else did they compare it to? by f5hacka · · Score: 5, Funny

    How the crap did they come up with comparing it to beer foam? What else was on the list of things to compare it to? Yale Guy: "THC...nope. Crystal Meth...nope. Hookers...nope. Beer Foam... WE GOT A MATCH BOYS"

    --
    Hi
    1. Re:What else did they compare it to? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, because THC, meth, and hookers, and beer have so much in common.

      I know four people that dabble in each one without touching the others.

    2. Re:What else did they compare it to? by fractoid · · Score: 1

      My wife won't let me dabble in beer, she says I have to drink it normally or I'm not allowed to have it.

      Dabbling makes you sticky.

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
  6. coconuts by plopez · · Score: 1

    grab then by the husk....

    or was that too obtuse?

    --
    putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
    1. Re:coconuts by fractoid · · Score: 1

      African or American nanoscale foam?

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    2. Re:coconuts by plopez · · Score: 1

      you just earned your nerd credentials.

      --
      putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
    3. Re:coconuts by Pranadevil2k · · Score: 1

      It's just a matter of weight ratios really.

  7. Re:Linux is ready! by rbrausse · · Score: 1

    > 2009 is the year!
    yes, of feathered beer foam.

    I think.

    maybe.

    I need a glass of wine.

  8. Birds of a feather... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    drink beer together!

  9. UV illumination by MollyB · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This article got me thinking about birds' ability to see in the UV waveband, and I scrounged up this somewhat dated link which notes "the vast majority of male and female birds that look alike to humans--blue jays, for example-- may actually look entirely different to the birds themselves because of their ability to see UV light, which humans are blind to." [Emphasis mine]
    I wonder how the nanostructures self-assemble with such apparent precision?

    1. Re: UV Illumination by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wonder how you grow with such apparent precision?

    2. Re:UV illumination by Zerth · · Score: 2, Interesting

      UV light, which humans are blind to

      .

      Humans with OEM corneas, at least. Artificial corneas don't absorb UV light.

    3. Re:UV illumination by blincoln · · Score: 2, Informative

      Humans with OEM corneas, at least. Artificial corneas don't absorb UV light.

      Even with an artificial cornea, our eyes aren't sensitive to UV in the sense that some insects and birds are. We don't have UV-specific receptors, so we would see it as more white light, or more of whichever colour receptors were most sensitive to it.

      I'd be curious to know if people with artificial corneas can see the UV patterns on flowers, even if they can't really tell that it's a different colour, just that there is a bright/dark pattern that people with natural corneas can't see. That's one of the easiest ways to determine useful UV sensitivity.

      Incidentally, our eyes are mildly sensitive to near-infrared too, in the same no-specific-receptors sense. You don't need artificial corneas to take advantage of that either - just some NIR-bandpass goggles and a bright source of illumination, like a sunny day.

      --
      "...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
    4. Re:UV illumination by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd like to point out at this stage that one's cornea plays no part in the ability to see wavelengths of light. It is one's retinae (plural of retina) that triggers nerves when sunjected to red, green or blue light.

      Your cornea is pretty transparent to just about every wavelength. Hence it's a good idea to wear UV protective sunglasses.

      Here endeth the lesson. Carry on.

    5. Re:UV illumination by conureman · · Score: 1

      As I posted on the firehose, I noticed that when my mostly green conure got wet, she turned grey. All but the yellow and red bits, leading me to deduce that the green was not actually pigment but an iridescent effect of the feather's structure.

      --
      The cost of that cleanup, of course, will be borne by taxpayers, not industry.
    6. Re:UV illumination by blincoln · · Score: 1

      Actually, Zerth was correct. The human cornea blocks most UV light. People who have had theirs replaced with UV-transparent synthetic material report being able to see UV light (as white, IIRC, similarly to how we see near-infrared).

      --
      "...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
    7. Re:UV illumination by Zerth · · Score: 1

      Actually, I've built some NIR-bandpass goggles(primary red+congo blue lighting gels=poor man's IR). It is indeed almost impossible to see unless in direct sun or a really bright NIR/visible red source. Most LEDs don't cut it, but heating elements emitting just enough light to still be dark by visible light barely show up if looked at directly.

      I just recently replied to someone with only one artificial cornea, he says each eye sees UV differently.

      As far as I know, UV light appears as a deep violet/indigo-white light. If the UV pattern on the flower is in the visible white portion of the flower, it might be visible. If it is over any other color, it would probably be overwhelmed by the visible portion.

  10. Joke? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How exactly was it funny or interesting?

  11. If birds are made of beer by Centurix · · Score: 1

    Then a woodpecker must be a bird on tap!

    Sweet jesus, why can't I stop.

    --
    Task Mangler
  12. These structures are formed in quite the same way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What? Are mother birds doing mini keg rolls when they turn their eggs?

  13. I tell you . . . by hawk · · Score: 1

    . . . if the next time I spend half a Saturday making really good beer straight from grain, I look into my secondary fermenter a week later and find a *(%^*& bluejay staring out of the secondary fermenter at me a week later, it's not going to be amazon that I go after, but a couple of eastern sissies with their sweater cuffs tucked together around their waist . . .

    hawkj

  14. But birds are descended from dinosaurs by billstewart · · Score: 3, Funny

    so obviously dinosaurs are descended from beer yeasts.

    It's much more likely that you'll find a *(%^*& veliciraptor in your fermenter (unless of course the bluejay just flew in their by accident, or because it was trying to retrieve a dropped coconut or something.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  15. badpour?! by nloop · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Who is tagging this bad pour? The head contains the aromatics of the beer, its texture varies depending on the beer, it gives you insight into the beers body and color, it is a good thing! Sure, if I'm drinking miller light I couldn't care less about it, but if it's a real beer there better be some head there! Bad pour... really?! Drink some good beer and come back later!

    1. Re:badpour?! by LanMan04 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Indeed. A good Belgian Special had better have some foam, otherwise you don't get any lacing! :(

      --
      With the first link, the chain is forged.
  16. I'm thirsty for some beer now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    After reading the submission text I feel like having a cold beer.

  17. This was already known by 1336 · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Unlike with most colors in nature - which are produced by pigments - the bright blue colors of Bluebirds and Blue Jays are actually produced by sponge-like nanostructures. These structures are formed in quite the same way as beer foam."

    This has been known for some time; sufficient quantities of beer can lead to pink elephants. There's some documentary footage here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nwNPaYoTY8

  18. its ANY CO2 "bubbly" drink but.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    guess beer was more interesting than club soda

  19. I was hoping for another result by spankyofoz · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Beer with a inidescent blue head, or maybe one that resembles the tail of a peacock.

    I too spend many hours in the shed making beer from grain, and this would be the stuff of furtunes.

    --

    - There is no point, it's like a sphere -