An important technique to analyze microscopic samples is UV-visible range microspectroscopy. The technique can analyze samples in the micron range, and as such is perfectly suitable for research on ...

The structures zipping together the barbs in bird feathers could provide a model for new adhesives and new aerospace materials, according to a new study. Researchers 3D printed models of the ...

Hair, scales, fur, feathers. Of all the body coverings nature has designed, feathers are the most various and the most mysterious. How did these incredibly strong, wonderfully lightweight, amazingly ...

Feathers are among the most complex cutaneous appendages in the animal kingdom. While their evolutionary origin has been widely debated, paleontological discoveries and developmental biology studies ...

A small group of birds, the sandgrouse, that dwell in Africa’s forbidding deserts have long mystified and delighted observers because they absorb and carry water in their breast feathers whilst flying ...

Many male birds-of-paradise employ bright colors and iridescent feathers in their mating displays—but a few species also sport superblack plumage. Now researchers have teased out the structural ...