Posted on 08/18/2014 8:59:20 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Engineers in the United States have developed an innovative new system of camouflage based on the color-changing abilities of cephalopods, namely octopus, cuttlefish, and squid. The mechanism used by the animals was emulated to a high degree by the researchers, who even utilized a similar layering pattern in their work...
In cephalopods, the colors surrounding it are sensed, and then the animal uses its muscles to change color, using cells containing pigment, known as chromatophores to change color. In their work, which is published in the journal PNAS, the engineers used photosensors to detect light levels, and then deliver this information to actuators, on the next layer. The final layer contains a heat-sensitive pigment, which changes color at 47 degrees centigrade. This layer’s temperature is affected by the actuators, using an electric current.
... Professor John Rogers, a materials scientist from the University of Illinois, and the study’s lead author, said that the system is still in its early phase. “This is the first full, working system of its kind – it looks like a thin sheet of paper… It’s really a beginning point, to focus on the engineering science around how you might create systems that have this type of function.”
...
The military are not the only people interested in the project however, a Chicago professor approached Prof Rogers, interested in the potential the system has for use in fashion. It is feasible that such a system could be used to create clothes which change color, creating clothes that stand out from the crowd like no other. Yet another possibility is the use of such technology in interior design, for example color changing wall coverings, which would change depending on lighting.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencerecorder.com ...
Sounds like a good thing to use in roofing materials to me. White in hot weather, black in cold. Reflect or absorb as interior climate control requirements dictate. Neutral or close to it in close to ideal temps.
Cooler than the other side of the pillow.
I didn’t know that cephalopods used their muscles to change pigment. That almost suggests a conscious apprehension of the surrounding colors, followed by a conscious decision to contract muscles in just the right way to emulate those colors.
I always thought it was an unconscious bio-feedback thing.
Soldier using invisibilty cloak? (Army optical camouflage technology)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc7c-K5xHQ0
Bookmark.
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