By Rajni Pandey | October 1, 2024
Blue seems abundant in the sky and ocean, yet it’s surprisingly rare in plants, animals, and minerals. Here’s why blue is so elusive in the natural world.
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Most colors in nature come from pigments, but blue pigments are difficult for organisms to produce. Instead, blue is often created through the manipulation of light rather than pigment.
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Animals like blue butterflies and birds display blue not from pigments, but from microscopic structures that reflect blue light. These layers create an optical illusion that appears blue to our eyes.
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Less than 10% of the world’s flowers are blue. Producing blue requires complex molecules that can absorb red light, making blue flowers like cornflowers difficult for plants to generate.
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Blue minerals like lapis lazuli get their color from crystal structures, not pigments. These crystals interact with light, reflecting only blue, making stones like these rare and highly prized.
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While some mammals like whales or mandrills display blue skin, no mammal has truly blue fur. Any blue hues in animals are typically a result of structural coloration, not pigmentation.
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While humans see blue, birds see more than we do. With a fourth light receptor, birds perceive ultraviolet light. What looks blue to us reflects even more UV light, making it brighter in a bird’s eye.
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Because blue is rare, it has influenced language and emotion, representing both hope and sadness. From “blue skies” to “feeling blue,” it captures a range of human experiences.
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