Flowers' secret signal to bees and other amazing nanotechnologies hidden in plants
October 19, 2017 by Stuart Thompson, The Conversation
Flowers have a secret signal that's specially tailored for bees so they know where to collect nectar. And new research has just given us a greater insight into how this signal works. Nanoscale patterns on the petals reflect light in a way that effectively creates a "blue halo" around the flower that helps attract the bees and encourages pollination.
This fascinating phenomenon shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to scientists. Plants are actually full of this kind of "nanotechnology", that enables them to do all kinds of amazing things, from cleaning themselves to generating energy. And, what's more, by studying these systems we might be able to put them to use in our own technologies.
Read more at:
https://phys.org/news/2017-10-secret-bees-amazing-nanotechnologies-hidden.html#jCp
