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Fishy felon breaks a law of physics

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Ashley N. Rice, [email protected]

A multilayer crystalline structure used by silvery fish to evade ocean predators bends the laws of physics and could be the key to developing better optical devices. Reflective surfaces polarize light, but silver-colored fish such as sardines, herring and sprat do not polarize light in the way that most reflective surfaces do. They have overcome this basic law of reflection to conceal themselves from predators, according to new research from the University of Bristol. Previously, it was thought that the fish’s skin – which contains multilayer arrangements of reflective...Read full article

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    Published: January 2013
    Glossary
    law of reflection
    The law stating that the angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence, the incident ray, reflected ray and normal to the surface, all being located in the same plane.
    photonics
    The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The science includes light emission, transmission, deflection, amplification and detection by optical components and instruments, lasers and other light sources, fiber optics, electro-optical instrumentation, related hardware and electronics, and sophisticated systems. The range of applications of photonics extends from energy generation to detection to communications and...
    polarization
    Polarization refers to the orientation of oscillations in a transverse wave, such as light waves, radio waves, or other electromagnetic waves. In simpler terms, it describes the direction in which the electric field vector of a wave vibrates. Understanding polarization is important in various fields, including optics, telecommunications, and physics. Key points about polarization: Transverse waves: Polarization is a concept associated with transverse waves, where the oscillations occur...
    reflection
    Return of radiation by a surface, without change in wavelength. The reflection may be specular, from a smooth surface; diffuse, from a rough surface or from within the specimen; or mixed, a combination of the two.
    BiophotonicsBioScanDr. Nicholas RobertsEnglandEuropeguanine crystalsherringlaw of physicslaw of reflectionLight SourcesNewsoptical fibersoptical propertiesOpticsphotonicspolarizationpolarized lightpredator evasionreflectionsardinessilver fishspratTom JordanUniversity of BristolLEDs

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