Sentences with word «barbule»

In stage three, the barbs partially unite to form a central rachis, and even smaller filaments called barbules start to branch off from the barbs.

When light strikes a superblack feather's forest of barbules — which tilt at about 30 degrees toward the outer tip of the feather — it gets reflected into cavities between the tiny structures rather than outward, McCoy says.

The cork - screw shaped structures in this slide are the tightly coiled bases of feather barbules.

Structural absorption by barbule microstructures of super black bird of paradise feathers.

This type of feather is also found in McKellar's amber and some of them have barbules wit tight coils at their bases.

These barbs, in turn, have smaller flat structures dubbed barbules protruding from them.

The result is beautifully detailed imagesof such objects as the individual barbules of a feather, shown above.

Using scanning electron microscopy and nano - CT scanning, the team observed that ultrablack feathers have ragged, spike - studded barbules that curve upward at a roughly 30 - degree angle to the tip, creating an array of deep, curved cavities.

The feathers are comprised of «a network of barbs, wrinkled barbules and tiny interlocking hooks.

A closer look at these specialized display feathers exposes their light - trapping trick: microstructures called barbules, located near the feathers» tips, are covered with a multitude of even tinier branching structures.

Their structure suggests that the two finest tiers of branching in modern feathers, known as barbs and barbules, arose before a rachis formed.

In the final stages of feather evolution, the barbules develop small hooks, which allowed neighbouring barbs to interlock like strips of Velcro.

Grebes — modern diving birds — have similar coils in their barbules.

In contrast, most flight - feather barbules have Velcro - like hooks that can snag neighboring barbules to form a solid yet flexible aerodynamic surface.

The microscope images showed that regardless of the feather color, the barbules all had a two - dimensional lattice made up of melanin rods as their outside layer.

The researchers used numerical simulations to show that the different lattice patterns found in the barbules shift the light waves that pass through them to produce the tail's vibrant blues, greens, yellows and browns.

Now, a team of computational physicists has used cutting - edge photosensors and computer modeling to analyze the barbules» light - bending properties in real time.

The striking breast feathers get their iridescent properties from tiny boomerang - shaped structures called barbules.

The barbules act like three - sided mirrors, shining blue - green or orange - yellow light depending on the position of the observer.