Color-Morphing Clams May Help In Design Of New Display Screen Technology

Color-Morphing Clams Could Inspire New Smartphone & TV Screens

Charles Q. Choi | January 23, 2016

Iridescent cells in the flesh of giant clams could one day help scientists design more efficient solar panels, and television and smartphone screens that are easier on the eyes, researchers say.
Giant clams are native to coral reefs of the Pacific and Indian oceans and can live up to 100 years in the wild. Although they live in nutrient-poor water, they can grow up to 47 inches (120 centimeters) long because of symbiotic photosynthetic algae — the clams absorb nutrients the algae generate, while the algae live off nitrogen-rich waste from the clams, previous research found.

Giant clams reflect white by mixing colors, much like how video displays combine red, green and blue pixels. Here is an example of a giant clam reflecting bright blue. Source: http://news.yahoo.com/color-morphing-clams-could-inspire-smartphone-tv-screens-143909014.html

<more at http://www.livescience.com/53467-iridescent-clams-inspire-smartphone-screens.html; related links: http://phys.org/news/2016-01-nature-method-white-yield-bio-inspired.html (Nature's surprising method for creating white coloration could yield bio-inspired optical innovations. January 20, 2016) and http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/articles/why-do-tridacnids-look-the-way-they-look.htm (Why Do Tridacnids Look the Way They Look? April 2007)>