The ability of feathers to perform many functions either simultaneously or at different times
throughout the year or life of a bird is integral to the evolutionary history of birds. Many …

Plumage coloration can have substantial effects on a bird's energy budget. This is because
different colours reflect and absorb light differently, affecting the heat loads acquired from …

Melanin is a ubiquitous natural pigment found in a diverse array of organisms. Allomelanin
is a class of nitrogen-free melanin often found in fungi. Herein, we find artificial allomelanin …

Allomelanin is a class of nitrogen-free melanin mostly found in fungi and, like all naturally
occurring melanins, is hydrophilic. Herein, we develop a facile method to modify synthetic …

Melanin is a ubiquitous natural pigment that exhibits broadband absorption and high
refractive index. Despite its widespread use in structural color production, how the absorbing …

Melanin, with its high refractive index (RI) and broadband absorption, is an important
biomaterial responsible for many of the vibrant structural colors observed in nature and for …

The diverse colours of bird feathers are produced by both pigments and nanostructures, and
can have substantial thermal consequences. This is because reflectance, transmittance and …

Collisions between fast-moving objects often cause severe damage, but collision avoidance
mechanisms of fast-moving animals remain understudied. Particularly, birds can fly fast and …

Melanosomes in nature have diverse morphologies, including spheres, rods, and platelets.
By contrast, shapes of synthetic melanins have been almost entirely limited to spherical …

Migratory birds undertake long and challenging journeys that have selected for a suite of
adaptations from sensory mechanisms that facilitate orientation to extreme feats of …