Giant Clams Light Up Like Plasma Screens, Only Better

I bet you ’ve never thought about how jumbo clams will revolutionize future technology . It ’s o.k. . You probably did n’t know about the unbelievable way these monumental mollusksturn sunlight into power .

Neither did scientists , until a squad of researchers at the University of California , Santa Barbara decide to canvass the iridescent cells some giant clams use to produce superb white light . Incredibly , these complex body part run in a mode correspondent to electronic display — only they expect nothing but sunlight to level up . That discovery , published today in the journalOptica , could barrack a fresh generation of vitality effective display .

“ If we are capable to make screens that show coloration [ like giant clams ] , these could be much more efficient — in the same way e - ink screens are way more effective than LEDs , ” lead study writer Amitabh Ghoshal recite Gizmodo in an email .

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jumbo clams inhabit some of the most nutrient - wretched tropic water in the world , and yet they can grow up to four feet long and live for a century . That ’s because the clams have worked out a ingenious symbiotic kinship with alga . Algae turn sun into simoleons for the mollusks , which allow for their tiny green sun machine with tax shelter . Clams also augment the light algae take in from the sun , using specialised cells called iridocytes that bend , scatter , and reflect a dazzling regalia of iridescent colors , including blue angel , greens , golds , and from time to time , whites .

In the novel subject , Ghoshal used microscopy and spectroscopy to describe the anatomical structure that produce rarefied white iridescence in two different species of giant clam , Tridacna maxima and Tridacna derasa . What he found was completely unexpected . Both species are using their light - scattering electric cell to make an palette of case-by-case coloring material that , on a macroscopic level , look white . This is interchangeable to how an LCD or plasma screen video works — look closely , and you ’ll see an array of item-by-item pixels — but it ’s never been observe in animal before . ( Most whites encounter in nature are base on an case-by-case paint . )

Clams and idiot box screens may acquire white light in a similar manner , but the engineering moolah use is arguably far more advanced , requiring only modest amounts of sunlight . If we could harness their ability , Ghoshal enunciate , “ it might be possible to build people of color - pondering display that work with ambient light sources such as sunshine or normal indoor kindling . grow colour the way elephantine clams do could lead to smartphone , pad of paper and TV screens that practice less might and are easier on the eye . ”

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Ghoshal also note that the clams ’ swooning - making mechanism could “ head to more efficient solar cells , which would require a smaller [ collecting area ] for give energy . ” He ’s now collaborating with engineers at UCSB ’s aim school to build the world ’s first clam - inspired solar cell .

It ’s deserving noting that giant clams , despite their singular survival tactics , are disappear across the world due to overfishing . As we ascertain more about the amazing adjustment nature has evolved over billion of years , the case for preserving biodiversity is only going to grow strong . If we wipe out creatures like this , we ’ll lose our best source of inspiration .

[ Optica ]

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