So THAT'S why everything looks so spinny

2013-03-20T18:57:47Z

Warning: this link interfered with my screen reader for a few moments--I think it must be feeling spinny, too.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2100204/In-spin-Kestrel-uses-novel-way-shake-drips-afternoon-soaking.html

comments

Colors on the wing

2011-05-31T14:57:45Z

I'm planning on doing some tie-dying soon, and two effects I'm interested in reproducing are dragonflies and peacock feathers. No joy on finding a description of how to get a tie-dye dragonfly (although it seems to have a basic cross shape which should be easy to produce), but along the way, I ran across these various articles which I thought had some yummy science in them:

1. a fascinating page on dragonflies of the Southwest
http://www.desertusa.com/mag98/nov/papr/drangonflies.html
"They come not only in red, fuchsia, orange, pink, blue, gold, saffron, black, emerald, maroon, earth tones, and more, but also in metallic colors. Some have colored, spotted or banded wings; others may have clear wings but clubbed abdomens or a spike on their tail."

2. an article which discusses how peacock feathers get their colors from structure rather than pigment
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/10/1016_031017_peacockcolors.html

3. a post from the blog Practical Thread Magic on what colors to use to get a peacock feather effect
http://practicalthreadmagic.blogspot.com/2011/02/in-search-of-peacock-colors-anatomy-of.html

comments

Kestrell

So THAT'S why everything looks so spinny

Colors on the wing