3 of the World's Most Intensely Colored Living Things

For most living things the color you see when you look at them is determined by pigments. But some of the most vivid colors we see in nature get their signature looks WITHOUT colorful molecules. How do these intense colors get their power?

#SciShow #Nature #Science #Biology #Vision

Hosted by: Stefan Chin

----------
----------
Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever:

Adam Brainard, Greg, Alex Hackman, Sam Lutfi, D.A. Noe, Piya Shedden, KatieMarie Magnone, Scott Satovsky Jr, Charles Southerland, Patrick D. Ashmore, charles george, Kevin Bealer, Chris Peters
----------
Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet?
----------
Sources:
Marble Berries:
White Chypochilus Beetles:
Black Birds of Paradise:
General:

Image Sources:

[artistwithouttalent]

2:54 So you're telling me that plants invented the idea of superior marketing to overcome the fundamental deficiencies of the product? Thanks, nature.

[zebobez]

This is one of those times where you wish the screen could actually communicate these colors instead of compressing them.

[marxtheenigma]

Those berries are sure convincing me to carry them off somewhere. So °•*shiny*•°

[spiderdude]

Structural coloration is so cool, it's literally like if you could zoom in on a surface and carve little shapes or zigzags with certain sizes and topographical feature when you zoom out it would change the macroscopic color of the whole object. Just wild!

[strawberrymilksamurai]

Humans: we've created vantablack.

Nature: you should've been holding my feathers

[ticklemyheart]

Ok those berries almost look like gems... I love it~

[evila]

Who would win ?
my IPS monitor's contrast ratio
One birdy boi.

[markchip]

I have no idea of the mechanism behind the coloration but - the most incredible colours I have seen in the animal world was the flesh of a large giant clam on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia... It was similar but far brighter than the shimmer of petrol on water. Just stunningly beautiful!!

[skarrambo]

My thesis was in Distributed Bragg Reflectors - I'll never get tired of talking about structural colouration!

[Nhojneirbo]

I ‘lost my marbles ‘ learning about the Marble Berry plant.

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

4:55 Beautiful bird, it's a relative of Ron. Ron is still trying to attract Becky

[Master_Therion]

My friend wanted to be the Incredible Hulk for Halloween.
Unfortunately, the green paint he used was toxic. He dyed :(

[surabhi_kumari]

Birds of paradise are so beautiful, it reminded me of a poem that I read in school titled the same.

[sagimorawolf]

1:27 It’s not an iridescent blue it’s a pearlescent blue, since it gives off the same one colored cloudy shine a pearl would under direct light. Iridescent would reflect two or three colors in different light angles like pink and green or blue and purple but still, for the most part, have a translucent aspect like multicolored cellophane does.

[huldu]

Only 3? I wish there were more described. This was a lovely episode.

[NinjaRunningWild]

Birds of paradise : *Blacker than the blackest black. Times infinity* .

[hectorandem]

04:55 "I heard you been talking sh*t"
_"NANI?!"_

[toniibaloneyy]

Those berries look like the shiny shells on the beetles in the movie The Mummy that feasted on human flesh. Pretty nice.

[swingardium]

The bright blue plumage on common kingfishers is down to structural colour too!

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

Those marble berries are beautiful. And it's from Africa? An example of why we must bless the rains