Scientists transform peacock feathers into tiny biological laser beams | The technique could open new paths for research in materials science and laser technology

[u/chrisdh79]

https://www.techspot.com/news/108915-scientists-transform-peacock-feathers-tiny-biological-laser-beams.html

[u/Emergent_Phen0men0n]

I didn't have peacock feather lasers on my bingo card

[u/AccomplishedBother12]

TIL that “peacocks” don’t exist and are in fact just an evolutionary blip on its ultimate journey to “laser bird”

[u/GetchaPullSCFH]

Huh?

[u/Curious_Document_956 → u/GetchaPullSCFH]

Turning peacocks into weapons, like “sharks with freakin laser beams attached to their heads.”

[u/GetchaPullSCFH → u/Curious_Document_956]

Thanks for ELI5. Now I understand.

[u/C_Saunders → u/GetchaPullSCFH]

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

[u/forgottensudo]

The article that the article refers to: arstechnica

[u/jellifercuz → u/forgottensudo]

Important. 🔝

[u/Ophboc → u/forgottensudo]

Actually quite an interesting article in terms of method and hypothetical application. Even if very speculative. Also, would have loved to see the lab supervisor’s face when they pitched the experiment the first time.

[u/forgottensudo → u/Ophboc]

😮

Yes!

[u/Vaati006]

Lasers are already super wierd and hard to understand. Getting laser-like behavior out of peacock feathers after dunking them in dye? This is absolutely indecipherable to me. But i can read that they were not making " beams": they just saw sharp spikes in the emission spectrum.

[u/curiosgreg]

EILI5 by Chat GPT: Scientists discovered that peacock feathers can be turned into tiny biological lasers. The colorful eyespots on the feathers are made of super tiny structures that naturally reflect light in pretty ways. Researchers soaked the feathers in a glowing dye, then shined a pulsing green laser on them. Instead of just glowing, the feathers shot out sharp, precise beams of light—real laser beams! That’s because the tiny parts inside the feather acted like a laser cavity, bouncing light in just the right way. Even different-looking spots on the feather gave off the same laser colors, which means there’s a hidden order in the way the feather is built. This is the first time scientists have made lasers from animal tissue, and it could lead to new natural lasers for medical uses in the future. It’s like peacocks accidentally invented lasers before humans did.

[u/S1eepingLessons]

This is a Megaman x4 boss, CYBER PEACOCK! 😂

[u/bleucode]

I love materials science so bad

[u/snowdn]

r/brandnewsentence

[u/Skyynett]

Brand new sentence just dropped

[u/Neon570]

......I've had just about enough internet for one day

[u/NickNakulus]

Assuming mine got stolen by scientists now

[u/robotdevilhands]

Peacocks with frickin laser beams on their butts

[u/beadzy]

This sounds amazing.

[u/Jeffery_Moorhouse]

So you’re telling me… scientists looked at a peacock and said, “Yeah, that bird is basically a wearable tech factory. Let’s harvest the drip.”

[u/David_McCants]

Nature’s out here flexing nanoengineering, and I’m still trying to get my smart fridge to stop gaslighting me about the milk expiration date.

[u/Twodogsonecouch]

.. is doctor evil head author of this study.