While most colors come from pigments, iridescence results from light interacting with nanostructures inside cells—which can only be seen under a microscope ... feathers are easy to work with ...

The youngsters went out on to the common looking for natural things to study under the microscope and collected mosses, ...

When I was about 6, my great-grandmother, who was a public-school science administrator, showed me a bird’s feather under a microscope. Seeing it up close was pretty spectacular and moving for me.

Roxie Laybourne, a Smithsonian bird expert ... History Div Roxie Laybourne Stands in Front of "Feather Focus" Exhibit Case Smithsonian Archives - History Div Roxie Laybourne and Doug Deedrick with ...

the substance the birds produce to coat their feathers. The team want to understand how the oil combines with the feathers' microscopic structures to create such effective waterproofing. After ...