SCIENCE IS SO COOL LIKE // jtotheizzoe: Blue Light Turns an Octopus An...

"We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours."

This tumblr's for all the great men and women of science for whom we owe our current understanding of the natural world; their achievements, their failures, and even their quirks, we celebrate them all.

For Science. For Inquiry. For Humanity.

PHOTO

jtotheizzoe:

Blue Light Turns an Octopus An Invisible Red

When you’re a small, ocean-dwelling creature, your primary concern each second of your day is to not get eaten. It must be a terrifying existence.

Land-lubbers have long-used camouflage as a way to avoid predators, but how would that work under the sea? Light doesn’t really penetrate below 1,000 meters, so if you live that deep your best bet might to be invisible. But how would you do that? Being clear is an option, but you’d still have a shadow, and nothing is completely clear.

But what if, like the octopus above, you live in the middle-depths, where only some colors of light can penetrate? You’d have to develop a different trick.

Blue light has a shorter wavelength and penetrates deeper than red light in water (that’s also why the ocean looks blue!). These creatures use that blue light to go invisible in the middle-depths.

By turning on red pigment cells on command, they are able to turn black when that blue light hits them. This is because a solely blue light source will not be reflected by red pigments (review how color works if you’re confused), making the octopi look black and invisible.

Cool trick.

(via ScienceNOW)