1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:05,350 Support your local PBS station. 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 4 00:00:12,943 --> 00:00:16,154 In the science of the very small, 5 00:00:16,188 --> 00:00:20,572 some ingenious inventors are inspiring materials 6 00:00:20,606 --> 00:00:23,057 with wondrous properties. 7 00:00:24,507 --> 00:00:26,233 Sensitive to climate change. 8 00:00:26,267 --> 00:00:30,340 They can act as a sentinel for our interaction with the planet. 9 00:00:30,375 --> 00:00:33,378 Brilliant color without paint. 10 00:00:33,412 --> 00:00:35,932 What we see here is a close-up. 11 00:00:35,966 --> 00:00:39,073 We see that the blue comes from the background scales. 12 00:00:39,108 --> 00:00:43,353 Protection from hazardous chemicals and bacteria. 13 00:00:43,388 --> 00:00:45,493 The word "contaminated" on the glove 14 00:00:45,528 --> 00:00:46,701 will turn from blue to red 15 00:00:46,736 --> 00:00:49,808 when you touch a surface that is contaminated. 16 00:00:49,842 --> 00:00:52,017 Even an unsinkable metal. 17 00:00:52,052 --> 00:00:54,675 As our ocean level 18 00:00:54,709 --> 00:00:56,228 continue to go up, 19 00:00:56,263 --> 00:00:57,781 in the future, 20 00:00:57,816 --> 00:01:01,854 a lot of city will have to be built on top of the ocean. 21 00:01:01,889 --> 00:01:07,412 All thanks to the millions of years of evolution 22 00:01:07,446 --> 00:01:12,589 packed into the remarkable world of butterflies and moths. 23 00:01:12,624 --> 00:01:14,833 There's many problems that humans haven't solved 24 00:01:14,867 --> 00:01:16,386 that butterflies and moths already have. 25 00:01:16,421 --> 00:01:21,495 "Butterfly Blueprints," right now, on "NOVA." 26 00:01:34,439 --> 00:01:36,613 Butterflies and moths. 27 00:01:36,648 --> 00:01:39,892 Graceful and beautiful. 28 00:01:39,927 --> 00:01:42,240 Their delicate wings seem barely suitable for flight. 29 00:01:42,274 --> 00:01:45,933 In spring and summer, they appear in our skies, 30 00:01:45,967 --> 00:01:47,417 flitting 31 00:01:47,452 --> 00:01:49,730 and floating. 32 00:01:49,764 --> 00:01:52,733 Their dazzling colors and patterns 33 00:01:52,767 --> 00:01:54,873 are among the most amazing in the animal kingdom. 34 00:01:54,907 --> 00:01:59,015 Some estimates put the number of species 35 00:01:59,049 --> 00:02:00,879 around 160,000, 36 00:02:00,913 --> 00:02:03,433 and they thrive in nearly 37 00:02:03,468 --> 00:02:05,711 every nook and cranny of our planet. 38 00:02:05,746 --> 00:02:08,162 If you go to the northern latitudes, 39 00:02:08,197 --> 00:02:09,336 you'll find butterflies. 40 00:02:09,370 --> 00:02:10,820 If you go to the desert, you'll find butterflies. 41 00:02:10,854 --> 00:02:12,925 If you go to the rainforest, 42 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:14,306 you'll find butterflies and moths. 43 00:02:14,341 --> 00:02:16,066 Their variety and beauty 44 00:02:16,101 --> 00:02:19,035 are testimony to the power of evolution, 45 00:02:19,069 --> 00:02:22,176 as are their countless hidden features-- 46 00:02:22,211 --> 00:02:25,766 some visible only with the most powerful microscopes. 47 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:29,390 Today, scientists around the world 48 00:02:29,425 --> 00:02:31,358 are studying these natural treasures. 49 00:02:31,392 --> 00:02:33,774 Gorgeous. 50 00:02:33,808 --> 00:02:35,224 Discovering secrets that can be adapted 51 00:02:35,258 --> 00:02:39,400 and applied to make our world more sustainable. 52 00:02:39,435 --> 00:02:40,539 They're so beautiful, 53 00:02:40,574 --> 00:02:43,715 but we can learn a lot by studying them. 54 00:02:43,749 --> 00:02:47,097 As champions of evolution, 55 00:02:47,132 --> 00:02:50,480 they've been at it for tens of millions of years. 56 00:02:50,515 --> 00:02:54,070 Butterflies emerged around the same time as 57 00:02:54,104 --> 00:02:56,106 flowering plants. 58 00:02:56,141 --> 00:02:57,315 Throughout their long history, 59 00:02:57,349 --> 00:03:00,663 they have diversified and developed 60 00:03:00,697 --> 00:03:02,837 amazing adaptations, like 61 00:03:02,872 --> 00:03:06,255 powerful poisons, silk thread, 62 00:03:06,289 --> 00:03:10,431 stationary flight, transparent materials, 63 00:03:10,466 --> 00:03:12,537 temperature regulation, 64 00:03:12,571 --> 00:03:14,504 astonishing colors and patterns, 65 00:03:14,539 --> 00:03:17,783 and defenses against bacterial infections. 66 00:03:20,821 --> 00:03:22,995 They have so much to teach us. 67 00:03:23,030 --> 00:03:26,344 But today, many species are in danger of 68 00:03:26,378 --> 00:03:30,140 extinction, threatened by a warming world. 69 00:03:38,287 --> 00:03:41,738 And if we can find ways to save them, 70 00:03:41,773 --> 00:03:46,018 it's becoming clear that we'll also be helping ourselves. 71 00:03:47,399 --> 00:03:52,715 In North America, an iconic species 72 00:03:52,749 --> 00:03:55,269 is particularly vulnerable to climate change 73 00:03:55,304 --> 00:03:57,444 and habitat loss. 74 00:03:57,478 --> 00:03:59,894 Delbert André Green II, 75 00:03:59,929 --> 00:04:03,346 a researcher at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 76 00:04:03,381 --> 00:04:07,868 studies the complex life cycle of the monarch butterfly. 77 00:04:07,902 --> 00:04:10,698 One of the questions that I get asked most often is, 78 00:04:10,733 --> 00:04:14,599 why should we expend so much resources 79 00:04:14,633 --> 00:04:17,015 into this one particular species, 80 00:04:17,049 --> 00:04:18,223 this one butterfly? 81 00:04:18,258 --> 00:04:20,363 What makes it so special? 82 00:04:20,398 --> 00:04:24,643 What really makes monarchs special is, 83 00:04:24,678 --> 00:04:26,438 they can act as a sentinel 84 00:04:26,473 --> 00:04:28,958 for our interaction with the planet. 85 00:04:28,992 --> 00:04:31,926 Their migration covers an entire continent. 86 00:04:34,274 --> 00:04:36,793 That migration begins each fall 87 00:04:36,828 --> 00:04:39,313 when millions of monarchs take off from Canada 88 00:04:39,348 --> 00:04:42,937 and the Northern United States and head for Mexico, 89 00:04:42,972 --> 00:04:47,494 where they remain until the following spring. 90 00:04:47,528 --> 00:04:50,876 It's a 3,000-mile test of endurance 91 00:04:50,911 --> 00:04:53,223 that lasts up to two months. 92 00:04:53,258 --> 00:04:54,639 If we look at 93 00:04:54,673 --> 00:04:57,918 this population size by counting the number of monarchs 94 00:04:57,952 --> 00:04:59,437 that make it to Mexico, 95 00:04:59,471 --> 00:05:02,854 that number has been declining pretty consistently 96 00:05:02,888 --> 00:05:04,338 over the past two decades. 97 00:05:04,373 --> 00:05:08,618 And that's, we still consider worrisome. 98 00:05:08,653 --> 00:05:09,930 Delbert believes the decline 99 00:05:09,964 --> 00:05:12,760 can be used to gauge the level of environmental change 100 00:05:12,795 --> 00:05:15,453 that the butterflies encounter on their journey. 101 00:05:15,487 --> 00:05:17,800 If there aren't enough nectaring flowers 102 00:05:17,834 --> 00:05:20,147 along the migration route, 103 00:05:20,181 --> 00:05:22,701 then monarchs won't be able to power 104 00:05:22,736 --> 00:05:24,634 the entire flight. 105 00:05:24,669 --> 00:05:28,328 That's also going to be impacted by climate 106 00:05:28,362 --> 00:05:30,606 and by how we change the landscape 107 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:35,162 through our own development or agricultural practices. 108 00:05:35,196 --> 00:05:36,957 In Mexico, 109 00:05:36,991 --> 00:05:39,546 monarchs that survive the journey gather together, 110 00:05:39,580 --> 00:05:42,411 forming spectacular wreaths of living color. 111 00:05:42,445 --> 00:05:46,000 Snuggled close together, 112 00:05:46,035 --> 00:05:49,728 they fall into a kind of hibernation called diapause. 113 00:05:49,763 --> 00:05:53,283 As their metabolism slows, they suspend activity, 114 00:05:53,318 --> 00:05:57,080 storing their energy until the spring returns. 115 00:05:57,115 --> 00:06:01,878 But during this time, they are still vulnerable. 116 00:06:03,604 --> 00:06:05,157 Diapause conditions have to be 117 00:06:05,192 --> 00:06:09,127 almost perfect in order for them 118 00:06:09,161 --> 00:06:12,889 to be able to survive the winter. 119 00:06:12,924 --> 00:06:15,996 If temperatures are changing at the overwintering site, 120 00:06:16,030 --> 00:06:19,033 then that's going to lead to 121 00:06:19,068 --> 00:06:22,865 kind of this disturbance in, potentially, diapause timing. 122 00:06:25,488 --> 00:06:27,076 During their diapause, 123 00:06:27,110 --> 00:06:30,044 monarchs endure a very sensitive and crucial time. 124 00:06:34,463 --> 00:06:37,120 Diapause allows them to 125 00:06:37,155 --> 00:06:39,847 slowly burn through their fat stores. 126 00:06:39,882 --> 00:06:42,125 So if it ends too early, they're going to start 127 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:44,024 burning through their fat stores more quickly, 128 00:06:44,058 --> 00:06:47,855 and they're going to be more susceptible to infection, 129 00:06:47,890 --> 00:06:50,306 which will potentially increase mortality 130 00:06:50,340 --> 00:06:52,239 at the overwintering sites 131 00:06:52,273 --> 00:06:55,207 before spring arrives, 132 00:06:55,242 --> 00:06:56,968 and the temperatures become warm enough 133 00:06:57,002 --> 00:06:58,107 such that they can mate 134 00:06:58,141 --> 00:07:01,351 and start to fly back northwards. 135 00:07:01,386 --> 00:07:05,183 By monitoring monarch populations, 136 00:07:05,217 --> 00:07:08,945 scientists can gain insight into how a warming climate 137 00:07:08,980 --> 00:07:11,672 can disrupt ecosystems, 138 00:07:11,707 --> 00:07:16,297 threatening not only monarchs, but other species, as well. 139 00:07:23,581 --> 00:07:27,343 Butterflies are giving scientists like Delbert 140 00:07:27,377 --> 00:07:30,898 a window into our changing climate. 141 00:07:30,933 --> 00:07:33,073 But that's only the beginning of what studies 142 00:07:33,107 --> 00:07:37,387 of these remarkable creatures are revealing-- 143 00:07:37,422 --> 00:07:40,874 particularly about the structure of materials 144 00:07:40,908 --> 00:07:44,015 at the nanoscopic scale. 145 00:07:44,049 --> 00:07:45,879 Researchers have been inspired by 146 00:07:45,913 --> 00:07:47,777 incredible nanoscopic structures 147 00:07:47,812 --> 00:07:50,953 in the wings and bodies of butterflies, 148 00:07:50,987 --> 00:07:53,507 enabling the creation of innovative technologies 149 00:07:53,542 --> 00:07:56,683 that may one day save lives 150 00:07:56,717 --> 00:08:01,066 and even help combat climate change. 151 00:08:01,101 --> 00:08:05,277 Butterflies and moths have many aspects of their morphology, 152 00:08:05,312 --> 00:08:08,453 of their physiology, that we could use 153 00:08:08,488 --> 00:08:10,282 for bio-inspired design, for sure. 154 00:08:10,317 --> 00:08:11,491 I mean, there's many things, 155 00:08:11,525 --> 00:08:13,562 many problems that humans haven't solved 156 00:08:13,596 --> 00:08:15,149 that butterflies and moths already have. 157 00:08:19,637 --> 00:08:23,433 The use of butterfly and moth features dates back 158 00:08:23,468 --> 00:08:25,539 at least 5,000 years, 159 00:08:25,574 --> 00:08:27,852 when the species known as Bombyx mori 160 00:08:27,886 --> 00:08:30,440 was first domesticated in China 161 00:08:30,475 --> 00:08:32,891 for its ability to produce 162 00:08:32,926 --> 00:08:36,446 a phenomenally resilient and versatile material-- 163 00:08:36,481 --> 00:08:38,656 silk. 164 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:42,763 Because of the importance of silk 165 00:08:42,798 --> 00:08:45,421 to the Chinese imperial court, 166 00:08:45,455 --> 00:08:49,839 the means of producing it was a heavily guarded secret, 167 00:08:49,874 --> 00:08:55,051 and its violators were punished, even by death. 168 00:08:57,191 --> 00:09:01,541 Today, of course, the secret is out. 169 00:09:01,575 --> 00:09:04,578 The whole process starts with the hatching 170 00:09:04,613 --> 00:09:07,581 of a miniscule egg 171 00:09:07,616 --> 00:09:10,757 and the birth of a caterpillar that measures 172 00:09:10,791 --> 00:09:15,106 less than an eighth of an inch. 173 00:09:15,140 --> 00:09:18,281 From its earliest days, the Bombyx caterpillar 174 00:09:18,316 --> 00:09:20,905 devours an enormous quantity 175 00:09:20,939 --> 00:09:23,873 of mulberry leaves, plant matter 176 00:09:23,908 --> 00:09:28,188 that it will eventually convert into silk thread. 177 00:09:37,093 --> 00:09:41,028 After about a month of feeding, 178 00:09:41,063 --> 00:09:43,479 the Bombyx caterpillar will find a branch to climb, 179 00:09:43,513 --> 00:09:46,793 where it will begin metamorphosis 180 00:09:46,827 --> 00:09:49,623 into its adult form. 181 00:09:50,935 --> 00:09:55,560 For the next few days, it will tirelessly repeat 182 00:09:55,595 --> 00:09:57,355 the same figure-eight movement, 183 00:09:57,389 --> 00:10:00,772 while secreting a viscous filament, the silk, 184 00:10:00,807 --> 00:10:04,086 eventually spinning up to a mile 185 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:06,226 of the thread into a protective cocoon. 186 00:10:14,648 --> 00:10:18,618 Scientists have found that the thread is mainly comprised 187 00:10:18,652 --> 00:10:21,621 of just two proteins. 188 00:10:29,801 --> 00:10:31,527 Today, a whole new chapter 189 00:10:31,561 --> 00:10:34,910 is opening in the story of silk. 190 00:10:37,084 --> 00:10:41,261 Researchers at the Tufts Silklab in Boston 191 00:10:41,295 --> 00:10:43,712 have isolated one of the proteins, 192 00:10:43,746 --> 00:10:45,196 called fibroin, 193 00:10:45,230 --> 00:10:48,406 and have created an innovative material. 194 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:49,925 So, we end up with a solution 195 00:10:49,959 --> 00:10:54,584 that is the suspension of the fibroin molecules in water. 196 00:10:54,619 --> 00:10:55,793 Once we have the solution, 197 00:10:55,827 --> 00:10:58,278 this is our magical starting material to do, 198 00:10:58,312 --> 00:10:59,659 to do many, many things. 199 00:10:59,693 --> 00:11:02,938 And so, and so the key is that you have these proteins 200 00:11:02,972 --> 00:11:05,906 that are floating in water, 201 00:11:05,941 --> 00:11:07,701 and you remove water as the solvent 202 00:11:07,736 --> 00:11:09,738 and you have two proteins come together 203 00:11:09,772 --> 00:11:11,981 in many, many different formats. 204 00:11:12,016 --> 00:11:13,949 Then you get different outcomes of materials. 205 00:11:13,983 --> 00:11:17,159 To the scientists, 206 00:11:17,193 --> 00:11:18,678 silk is an incredibly versatile, 207 00:11:18,712 --> 00:11:21,059 environmentally friendly material. 208 00:11:21,094 --> 00:11:23,717 What begins as a colorless liquid-- 209 00:11:23,752 --> 00:11:25,892 this gel-like solution-- 210 00:11:25,926 --> 00:11:28,515 can be either flexible and soluble 211 00:11:28,549 --> 00:11:31,587 or as tough as Kevlar. 212 00:11:31,621 --> 00:11:36,730 Luciana d'Amone is exploring medical applications. 213 00:11:36,765 --> 00:11:38,905 Fibroin has an advantage 214 00:11:38,939 --> 00:11:41,148 over synthetic materials like plastics 215 00:11:41,183 --> 00:11:44,082 because it's compatible with the human body. 216 00:11:44,117 --> 00:11:45,359 Oh, so this is the... 217 00:11:45,394 --> 00:11:46,567 D' net. 218 00:11:46,602 --> 00:11:47,534 ...net, so these are very nice. 219 00:11:47,568 --> 00:11:48,673 Yeah, but as soon as I 220 00:11:48,708 --> 00:11:51,572 stretch them, they are, are breaking down. 221 00:11:51,607 --> 00:11:52,677 This is going to be nice 222 00:11:52,712 --> 00:11:53,989 for, like, a Band-Aid-type application 223 00:11:54,023 --> 00:11:57,095 or a reconfigurable, so these are very, very pretty. 224 00:11:57,130 --> 00:11:59,339 Yeah, the idea would be to 225 00:11:59,373 --> 00:12:01,790 mix the drug together with a solution 226 00:12:01,824 --> 00:12:04,275 and then control the release 227 00:12:04,309 --> 00:12:06,691 of the drug on a higher surface area, 228 00:12:06,726 --> 00:12:08,037 just stretching the net.Yeah. 229 00:12:08,072 --> 00:12:10,108 The attributes, 230 00:12:10,143 --> 00:12:11,558 the functional attributes that silk has 231 00:12:11,592 --> 00:12:14,837 that, that give value to some of the applications of the silk, 232 00:12:14,872 --> 00:12:16,977 is the fact that silk can be implanted 233 00:12:17,012 --> 00:12:19,600 without an inflammatory response in the human body. 234 00:12:19,635 --> 00:12:23,018 That it can, it can be eaten, it can be consumed. 235 00:12:25,779 --> 00:12:28,678 In the lab, they are finding that the fibroin material 236 00:12:28,713 --> 00:12:32,544 can be made to be rigid and tough 237 00:12:32,579 --> 00:12:36,341 or flexible, like a film, making it an ideal material 238 00:12:36,376 --> 00:12:39,137 as an implant in reconstructive surgery. 239 00:12:39,172 --> 00:12:41,968 If you take this material and you know that you can 240 00:12:42,002 --> 00:12:43,245 mechanically shape it 241 00:12:43,279 --> 00:12:45,799 with the tools that you commonly use 242 00:12:45,834 --> 00:12:48,146 in a mechanic's shop, then what you can do is, 243 00:12:48,181 --> 00:12:50,597 you can generate small screws. 244 00:12:50,631 --> 00:12:52,357 The screws made of fibroin 245 00:12:52,392 --> 00:12:54,912 are similar to the metal screws currently used 246 00:12:54,946 --> 00:12:56,637 to reconstruct bones. 247 00:12:56,672 --> 00:12:59,330 They can also deliver human growth factor compounds 248 00:12:59,364 --> 00:13:01,194 to help bones knit together. 249 00:13:01,228 --> 00:13:03,679 So these are the worlds that come together: 250 00:13:03,713 --> 00:13:07,441 the mechanical properties and the medical properties, 251 00:13:07,476 --> 00:13:11,514 in a material that integrates with, with living tissue. 252 00:13:11,549 --> 00:13:15,587 In liquid form, the fibroin in silk 253 00:13:15,622 --> 00:13:18,625 is also being combined with chemicals that react 254 00:13:18,659 --> 00:13:20,144 in the presence of 255 00:13:20,178 --> 00:13:23,112 bacteriological or viral threats. 256 00:13:23,147 --> 00:13:26,495 The result is an ink that can change color 257 00:13:26,529 --> 00:13:28,186 when exposed to dangerous substances 258 00:13:28,221 --> 00:13:31,672 in the environment. 259 00:13:31,707 --> 00:13:34,710 All of the inks that are here on the tapestry react, 260 00:13:34,744 --> 00:13:35,884 react to the environment, 261 00:13:35,918 --> 00:13:37,989 react to the environment around it. 262 00:13:38,024 --> 00:13:39,922 And so when you, when there is a change 263 00:13:39,957 --> 00:13:41,165 in the environment around it, 264 00:13:41,199 --> 00:13:43,270 they will change color accordingly. 265 00:13:47,757 --> 00:13:49,967 This fabric is of particular interest 266 00:13:50,001 --> 00:13:51,485 for making protective gear 267 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:53,936 for workers operating where they might be exposed 268 00:13:53,971 --> 00:13:56,111 to dangerous substances. 269 00:13:59,286 --> 00:14:01,461 So these types of inks are very interesting 270 00:14:01,495 --> 00:14:05,051 to turn objects into, into sensing objects. 271 00:14:05,085 --> 00:14:07,639 If you print a word with these inks 272 00:14:07,674 --> 00:14:10,366 onto the surface of personal protection equipment, 273 00:14:10,401 --> 00:14:12,023 so, like, a glove here, 274 00:14:12,058 --> 00:14:15,061 that word will, will sense the environment around it. 275 00:14:15,095 --> 00:14:16,131 In this case, 276 00:14:16,165 --> 00:14:18,064 the word "contaminated" on the glove 277 00:14:18,098 --> 00:14:19,962 will turn from blue to red 278 00:14:19,997 --> 00:14:22,516 when you touch a surface that is contaminated. 279 00:14:34,321 --> 00:14:36,599 The caterpillar that produces silk 280 00:14:36,634 --> 00:14:39,602 is only one stage in the butterfly's 281 00:14:39,637 --> 00:14:42,467 unique life cycle. 282 00:14:42,502 --> 00:14:45,954 In all, it moves through four distinct phases: 283 00:14:45,988 --> 00:14:47,645 egg, 284 00:14:47,679 --> 00:14:50,268 caterpillar, 285 00:14:50,303 --> 00:14:52,892 chrysalis, 286 00:14:52,926 --> 00:14:55,204 and adult. 287 00:14:55,239 --> 00:14:58,414 The butterfly extracts itself from its chrysalis, 288 00:14:58,449 --> 00:15:01,072 dazed and fragile... 289 00:15:03,903 --> 00:15:06,975 ...unfolding its wings and its body 290 00:15:07,009 --> 00:15:09,529 with a cloth-like rustling. 291 00:15:09,563 --> 00:15:12,187 When it emerges from its chrysalis, 292 00:15:12,221 --> 00:15:15,466 the adult has been completely transformed 293 00:15:15,500 --> 00:15:18,848 into one of the most delicate and graceful creatures 294 00:15:18,883 --> 00:15:20,989 in nature. 295 00:15:21,023 --> 00:15:22,162 And, of course, 296 00:15:22,197 --> 00:15:25,062 the vivid and iridescent colors and patterns 297 00:15:25,096 --> 00:15:27,719 of butterfly wings are their most striking feature-- 298 00:15:27,754 --> 00:15:30,584 nowhere seen more brilliantly 299 00:15:30,619 --> 00:15:33,553 than in the male of the morpho species 300 00:15:33,587 --> 00:15:35,935 of the tropical rainforest. 301 00:15:35,969 --> 00:15:37,729 In flight, its wings 302 00:15:37,764 --> 00:15:40,560 seem to give off blue flashes that are hard to miss, 303 00:15:40,594 --> 00:15:43,804 even in the densest forest. 304 00:15:43,839 --> 00:15:48,533 Serge Berthier, a research physicist 305 00:15:48,568 --> 00:15:50,846 at the Paris Institute of Nanosciences, 306 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:54,505 talks about the wings' unique properties. 307 00:15:54,539 --> 00:15:57,232 Each species presents a slightly different blue 308 00:15:57,266 --> 00:16:00,683 and has a slightly different wing beat, 309 00:16:00,718 --> 00:16:03,479 and then variations of colors that we see here: 310 00:16:03,514 --> 00:16:05,481 a phenomenon of iridescence 311 00:16:05,516 --> 00:16:08,898 where the color varies in flight. 312 00:16:08,933 --> 00:16:11,832 It's part of the code of communication 313 00:16:11,867 --> 00:16:14,456 between males and females. 314 00:16:16,976 --> 00:16:18,701 It's an impressive adaptation 315 00:16:18,736 --> 00:16:20,531 to the problem of finding a mate in the forest, 316 00:16:20,565 --> 00:16:24,259 but it comes with a problem. 317 00:16:24,293 --> 00:16:26,468 What is so visible to the female butterfly 318 00:16:26,502 --> 00:16:31,024 is also noticeable to hungry birds. 319 00:16:31,059 --> 00:16:34,407 BERTHIER The male has to find a way to parry this, 320 00:16:34,441 --> 00:16:37,548 that is, being very visible while not getting caught 321 00:16:37,582 --> 00:16:39,929 by the first predator that comes along. 322 00:16:41,483 --> 00:16:45,107 The genius of this butterfly, like many others, 323 00:16:45,142 --> 00:16:47,454 is that it does not fly straight. 324 00:16:50,561 --> 00:16:52,839 As it flits through the forest blinking blue, 325 00:16:52,873 --> 00:16:55,738 it follows an unpredictable zig-zag path, 326 00:16:55,773 --> 00:16:57,464 making it hard to track. 327 00:16:59,639 --> 00:17:01,572 BERTHIER So, you have a dotted line 328 00:17:01,606 --> 00:17:04,057 zig-zagging like that, which makes it almost impossible 329 00:17:04,092 --> 00:17:06,197 for a bird to calculate its trajectory 330 00:17:06,232 --> 00:17:09,062 and snap it up in flight. 331 00:17:12,376 --> 00:17:14,481 It's the morpho's iridescent blue 332 00:17:14,516 --> 00:17:17,622 that intrigues Serge and the other researchers the most. 333 00:17:17,657 --> 00:17:19,038 They want to understand 334 00:17:19,072 --> 00:17:24,560 how nature produces a color that looks so... unnatural. 335 00:17:24,595 --> 00:17:28,219 What we see here is a close-up of this wing. 336 00:17:28,254 --> 00:17:29,220 We see that the blue 337 00:17:29,255 --> 00:17:32,327 comes from the background scales. 338 00:17:32,361 --> 00:17:36,503 And there are scales here that clog the joints on top of them. 339 00:17:36,538 --> 00:17:39,230 These are covering scales, and they are transparent-- 340 00:17:39,265 --> 00:17:40,300 you can see through them. 341 00:17:40,335 --> 00:17:41,681 The morpho uses 342 00:17:41,715 --> 00:17:44,925 a very peculiar way to generate color. 343 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:46,444 It is a structural color, 344 00:17:46,479 --> 00:17:50,483 which is intrinsically different from a pigment color. 345 00:17:50,517 --> 00:17:52,899 This is in contrast to regular pigment. 346 00:17:52,933 --> 00:17:54,866 Pigment are like granules of pigment 347 00:17:54,901 --> 00:17:56,696 that are inside of the cells that give something 348 00:17:56,730 --> 00:17:58,422 a yellow or a red or a, or a green color. 349 00:18:01,287 --> 00:18:02,978 The pigment color results from 350 00:18:03,012 --> 00:18:05,325 the partial reflection of daylight. 351 00:18:05,360 --> 00:18:07,879 When a pigment reflects a red color, for instance, 352 00:18:07,914 --> 00:18:11,642 it means it has absorbed all the other colors. 353 00:18:11,676 --> 00:18:13,747 But then there's this other type of coloration 354 00:18:13,782 --> 00:18:16,819 that's actually not caused by a pigment. 355 00:18:16,854 --> 00:18:19,028 The structures that produce the color of the morpho 356 00:18:19,063 --> 00:18:21,376 are visible under the microscope. 357 00:18:21,410 --> 00:18:25,690 The wings show a regular pattern of raised surfaces, 358 00:18:25,725 --> 00:18:30,592 each one just one ten-millionth of a meter in size. 359 00:18:30,626 --> 00:18:32,352 It's the size of these structures 360 00:18:32,387 --> 00:18:35,286 that produces the wings' iridescence. 361 00:18:35,321 --> 00:18:38,186 It's caused by little bumps, or, or... 362 00:18:38,220 --> 00:18:40,015 Rugosities, they call them, 363 00:18:40,049 --> 00:18:43,191 or little deviations in the smoothness 364 00:18:43,225 --> 00:18:44,502 of the insect's skin. 365 00:18:44,537 --> 00:18:46,746 And when light bounces off of that, 366 00:18:46,780 --> 00:18:49,231 our eyes perceive it as being a metallic, 367 00:18:49,266 --> 00:18:50,957 or shiny, or iridescent color. 368 00:18:52,821 --> 00:18:56,859 The blue of the morpho's wing is not due to pigmentation, 369 00:18:56,894 --> 00:19:00,518 but is generated by the structure of the wing itself. 370 00:19:00,553 --> 00:19:03,176 When light strikes the wing at certain angles, 371 00:19:03,211 --> 00:19:06,248 its nanoscale feature selects only 372 00:19:06,283 --> 00:19:09,527 the blue frequencies, which are reflected, 373 00:19:09,562 --> 00:19:12,841 resulting in an iridescent, metallic appearance. 374 00:19:15,499 --> 00:19:18,295 The surprising new insight into structural color 375 00:19:18,329 --> 00:19:19,537 has inspired researchers 376 00:19:19,572 --> 00:19:22,851 to control light and produce color 377 00:19:22,885 --> 00:19:25,647 without chemicals or paint 378 00:19:25,681 --> 00:19:27,994 in all sorts of other materials. 379 00:19:30,169 --> 00:19:33,241 At the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester 380 00:19:33,275 --> 00:19:34,759 in the United States, 381 00:19:34,794 --> 00:19:38,177 Chunlei Guo has succeeded in creating such structures. 382 00:19:42,733 --> 00:19:44,597 Inspired by this morpho butterfly, 383 00:19:44,631 --> 00:19:49,912 so we actually can also imprint some of these 384 00:19:49,947 --> 00:19:54,158 tiny micro, nanostructures onto a material surface 385 00:19:54,193 --> 00:19:56,678 and give them very unique properties. 386 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:03,305 Using an infrared laser with very short bursts of light, 387 00:20:03,340 --> 00:20:05,687 they are able to sculpt nano-sized structures, 388 00:20:05,721 --> 00:20:09,346 measured in billionths of a meter, into metals. 389 00:20:09,380 --> 00:20:12,176 This incredible method of 390 00:20:12,211 --> 00:20:14,799 creating various colors on surfaces 391 00:20:14,834 --> 00:20:16,215 has not only allowed the researchers 392 00:20:16,249 --> 00:20:18,872 to reproduce the color of the butterfly's wings, 393 00:20:18,907 --> 00:20:20,149 it also enables them 394 00:20:20,184 --> 00:20:23,256 to create a highly light-absorbing material 395 00:20:23,291 --> 00:20:26,121 that could be called absolute black. 396 00:20:26,155 --> 00:20:31,333 Colored metal actually will selectively absorb 397 00:20:31,368 --> 00:20:35,164 a certain range of color, but reflect other colors 398 00:20:35,199 --> 00:20:38,858 so that it give you a certain colored appearance. 399 00:20:38,892 --> 00:20:42,137 So we create this technology, so the black metal 400 00:20:42,171 --> 00:20:45,313 actually will indistinguishly absorb 401 00:20:45,347 --> 00:20:49,558 all colors of, of the spectrum, 402 00:20:49,593 --> 00:20:51,388 therefore it's, appear pitch-black. 403 00:20:51,422 --> 00:20:52,699 These discoveries 404 00:20:52,734 --> 00:20:57,256 have the potential to revolutionize solar power. 405 00:20:57,290 --> 00:21:00,535 Chunlei's team found that applying these nanostructures 406 00:21:00,569 --> 00:21:02,744 to a solar panel 407 00:21:02,778 --> 00:21:06,541 improved its efficiency by 130%. 408 00:21:06,575 --> 00:21:07,542 The nanostructures 409 00:21:07,576 --> 00:21:10,061 allow the panel to absorb 410 00:21:10,096 --> 00:21:12,063 almost the entire light spectrum, 411 00:21:12,098 --> 00:21:15,101 minimizing loss of energy due to reflection. 412 00:21:25,076 --> 00:21:26,733 As well as transforming solar power, 413 00:21:26,768 --> 00:21:29,460 inspiration from butterfly wings 414 00:21:29,495 --> 00:21:33,361 could lead to other innovations. 415 00:21:33,395 --> 00:21:35,328 Well, I mean, butterfly and moth wings 416 00:21:35,363 --> 00:21:36,950 serve multiple purposes, right? 417 00:21:36,985 --> 00:21:38,745 Primarily, they're for flight. 418 00:21:38,780 --> 00:21:41,403 But then, the coloration and patterns that are on the wings 419 00:21:41,438 --> 00:21:42,611 are a signaling. 420 00:21:42,646 --> 00:21:44,095 Sometimes it's signaling to each other, 421 00:21:44,130 --> 00:21:45,442 males signaling to other males, 422 00:21:45,476 --> 00:21:47,547 or males signaling to females 423 00:21:47,582 --> 00:21:49,446 that's the same species. 424 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:53,104 Sometimes the signal is actually for a predator. 425 00:21:55,314 --> 00:21:57,557 In nature, color plays a vital role 426 00:21:57,592 --> 00:22:01,699 in both reproduction and survival. 427 00:22:05,565 --> 00:22:07,843 Through either pigment or structural color, 428 00:22:07,878 --> 00:22:09,120 butterfly wings 429 00:22:09,155 --> 00:22:11,364 often create complex patterns 430 00:22:11,399 --> 00:22:14,436 that entomologists suspect are meant to 431 00:22:14,471 --> 00:22:16,576 send signals not to mates, 432 00:22:16,611 --> 00:22:18,337 but to predators. 433 00:22:18,371 --> 00:22:20,891 And in some cases, 434 00:22:20,925 --> 00:22:23,756 present uncanny copies of similar colors and patterns 435 00:22:23,790 --> 00:22:25,930 found in other living things. 436 00:22:25,965 --> 00:22:29,278 Often, the butterflies and moths that you see are orange 437 00:22:29,313 --> 00:22:30,279 or orange, yellow, and black. 438 00:22:30,314 --> 00:22:32,730 It's a signal that 439 00:22:32,765 --> 00:22:35,043 these moths or butterflies are distasteful, 440 00:22:35,077 --> 00:22:37,528 and presumably birds only have to learn 441 00:22:37,563 --> 00:22:39,530 one big kind of color pattern. 442 00:22:39,565 --> 00:22:40,980 Orange, black, yellow: avoid. 443 00:22:42,809 --> 00:22:44,259 In the plant and animal world, 444 00:22:44,293 --> 00:22:45,950 orange, yellow, and black 445 00:22:45,985 --> 00:22:48,401 are sometimes associated with poison. 446 00:22:48,436 --> 00:22:50,921 And some butterflies seem to rely on those colors 447 00:22:50,955 --> 00:22:53,993 to discourage birds from eating them. 448 00:22:55,270 --> 00:22:57,997 And these two look really similar. 449 00:22:58,031 --> 00:23:02,933 These are the monarch and the viceroy. 450 00:23:02,967 --> 00:23:06,557 The monarch and the viceroy are easy to distinguish 451 00:23:06,592 --> 00:23:08,904 because the viceroy has this additional 452 00:23:08,939 --> 00:23:14,323 kind of line of dark color by the base of its wings. 453 00:23:14,358 --> 00:23:16,947 This is a distasteful monarch butterfly 454 00:23:16,981 --> 00:23:18,258 that birds learn to avoid. 455 00:23:18,293 --> 00:23:22,401 And the viceroy mimics the monarch's coloration 456 00:23:22,435 --> 00:23:25,645 presumably so that it also can be protected 457 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:29,408 and it doesn't get eaten by birds like, like blue jays. 458 00:23:32,134 --> 00:23:36,725 Butterflies use a variety of defense mechanisms. 459 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:40,557 Although some boldly wear the signs of toxicity, 460 00:23:40,591 --> 00:23:42,248 others prefer to pass unseen. 461 00:23:42,282 --> 00:23:44,112 They melt into the surrounding colors 462 00:23:44,146 --> 00:23:46,425 of their natural environment. 463 00:23:46,459 --> 00:23:49,531 For example, the Greta oto, 464 00:23:49,566 --> 00:23:52,879 also known as a glasswing butterfly, 465 00:23:52,914 --> 00:23:55,813 relies on a double defense: 466 00:23:55,848 --> 00:23:59,230 displaying some warning colors while most of the wing 467 00:23:59,265 --> 00:24:01,336 is almost totally transparent-- 468 00:24:01,370 --> 00:24:04,615 a most unusual adaptation. 469 00:24:04,650 --> 00:24:07,791 The wings' surfaces have scarcely any reflectivity. 470 00:24:07,825 --> 00:24:10,932 Even glass and other human-made materials 471 00:24:10,966 --> 00:24:13,003 reflect some light. 472 00:24:16,213 --> 00:24:17,939 But not this butterfly wing, 473 00:24:17,973 --> 00:24:21,632 which makes it extremely interesting to scientists. 474 00:24:27,949 --> 00:24:29,571 Researchers at the 475 00:24:29,606 --> 00:24:31,746 Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany 476 00:24:31,780 --> 00:24:33,679 are studying the unusual properties 477 00:24:33,713 --> 00:24:37,752 of transparent-type wings like the Greta oto's. 478 00:24:37,786 --> 00:24:38,994 HENDRIK HOÖLSCHER What we see on top 479 00:24:39,029 --> 00:24:42,860 are these nanostructures here, nano pillars, 480 00:24:42,895 --> 00:24:44,034 which have random heights. 481 00:24:44,068 --> 00:24:47,347 And also the distance between the nano pillars 482 00:24:47,382 --> 00:24:50,005 is a little bit random. 483 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:51,628 So they're not regularly arranged. 484 00:24:51,662 --> 00:24:53,561 And this randomness is important 485 00:24:53,595 --> 00:24:56,529 for the anti-reflective properties of the butterfly. 486 00:24:59,877 --> 00:25:03,329 This is where the secret of the high transparency lies: 487 00:25:03,363 --> 00:25:05,780 the random distribution and size of 488 00:25:05,814 --> 00:25:08,058 these conical nanometric pillars 489 00:25:08,092 --> 00:25:10,681 create an anti-reflective layer, 490 00:25:10,716 --> 00:25:13,408 allowing light rays, even the most grazing, 491 00:25:13,442 --> 00:25:16,515 to pass through the wing 492 00:25:16,549 --> 00:25:18,827 without being dispersed or reflected. 493 00:25:22,762 --> 00:25:24,592 This anti-reflective property 494 00:25:24,626 --> 00:25:28,423 is interesting for different types of applications, 495 00:25:28,457 --> 00:25:30,943 like smartphones, for instance. 496 00:25:30,977 --> 00:25:32,807 In the summer, when the sun is shining, 497 00:25:32,841 --> 00:25:34,912 it's hard to read and it would be nice 498 00:25:34,947 --> 00:25:36,327 to have an anti-reflective screen. 499 00:25:36,362 --> 00:25:39,434 And also for solar cells. 500 00:25:39,468 --> 00:25:42,195 It would be interesting to have less reflection 501 00:25:42,230 --> 00:25:46,337 and have more collection of the solar energy. 502 00:25:46,372 --> 00:25:50,410 These researchers create a plastic film on which 503 00:25:50,445 --> 00:25:53,862 they print nanostructures in imitation of those 504 00:25:53,897 --> 00:25:55,623 in the crystalline-type wing. 505 00:25:55,657 --> 00:25:57,003 Their goal is to create 506 00:25:57,038 --> 00:26:01,042 anti-reflective materials that are highly transparent. 507 00:26:05,702 --> 00:26:07,738 The nanostructures of the wings 508 00:26:07,773 --> 00:26:09,429 offer other properties, 509 00:26:09,464 --> 00:26:12,122 such as the ability to repel water, 510 00:26:12,156 --> 00:26:15,228 known as hydrophobicity. 511 00:26:19,888 --> 00:26:24,928 Staying dry is a matter of life and death for butterflies. 512 00:26:24,962 --> 00:26:27,137 Mist and rain would quickly ground them 513 00:26:27,171 --> 00:26:29,139 if they weren't waterproof. 514 00:26:32,556 --> 00:26:36,318 BERTHIER A butterfly must not get wet. 515 00:26:36,353 --> 00:26:40,357 If the wings were wet and they touched each other, 516 00:26:40,391 --> 00:26:43,602 they would stick together, and the butterfly would die. 517 00:26:45,155 --> 00:26:49,400 So a butterfly wing is super-hydrophobic. 518 00:26:49,435 --> 00:26:52,611 That is, the wing doesn't get wet-- water forms beads. 519 00:26:55,510 --> 00:26:58,720 And then the beads roll off, cleaning the wing of 520 00:26:58,755 --> 00:27:01,896 all of the dust and dirt it picks up along the way. 521 00:27:03,829 --> 00:27:06,763 Thanks to its nanometric structures, 522 00:27:06,797 --> 00:27:10,318 the morpho's wing doesn't just rid itself of water drops, 523 00:27:10,352 --> 00:27:13,804 it breaks them down into a multitude of smaller drops 524 00:27:13,839 --> 00:27:16,807 that flow more easily off the surface. 525 00:27:23,262 --> 00:27:25,195 In his Rochester lab, 526 00:27:25,229 --> 00:27:27,956 Chunlei Guo is exploring possible engineering 527 00:27:27,991 --> 00:27:32,374 applications for this extremely hydrophobic material. 528 00:27:32,409 --> 00:27:35,895 In one of his experiments, he starts by laser-etching 529 00:27:35,930 --> 00:27:38,933 a metallic surface with a nanoscale pattern 530 00:27:38,967 --> 00:27:41,694 inspired by the morpho wing. 531 00:27:41,729 --> 00:27:44,904 He's hoping to create the same water-repelling effect. 532 00:27:50,047 --> 00:27:52,498 When he drops water on the surface he has created, 533 00:27:52,532 --> 00:27:54,707 it is totally repelled. 534 00:27:57,123 --> 00:27:59,091 The experiment is a success. 535 00:27:59,125 --> 00:28:02,439 Water drops are not only repelled, 536 00:28:02,473 --> 00:28:04,752 they bounce back. 537 00:28:04,786 --> 00:28:07,237 With this material, 538 00:28:07,271 --> 00:28:13,346 Chunlei's team seems to have created an unsinkable metal. 539 00:28:13,381 --> 00:28:16,591 And what we did was, we actually utilized in, 540 00:28:16,625 --> 00:28:17,730 build a metallic assembly 541 00:28:17,765 --> 00:28:20,526 with a super-hydrophobic surface, 542 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:25,048 so that the hydrophobic surface, they are facing each other. 543 00:28:25,082 --> 00:28:30,087 And if you put this metallic assembly inside water, 544 00:28:30,122 --> 00:28:34,643 and because the inside of the assembly is super-hydrophobic, 545 00:28:34,678 --> 00:28:38,406 so that it will push the water out and will prevent the water 546 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:41,581 squeezing into the metallic assembly, 547 00:28:41,616 --> 00:28:43,135 and the air trapped inside will keep 548 00:28:43,169 --> 00:28:45,827 the metallic assembly afloat. 549 00:28:45,862 --> 00:28:47,553 Fabricating a ship's hull 550 00:28:47,587 --> 00:28:51,937 using this design would have an obvious benefit. 551 00:28:51,971 --> 00:28:54,698 But Chunlei believes it could also help us adapt 552 00:28:54,733 --> 00:28:57,839 to climate change. 553 00:28:57,874 --> 00:29:00,739 And as our ocean level continue to 554 00:29:00,773 --> 00:29:04,984 go up in the future, a lot of city will have to be 555 00:29:05,019 --> 00:29:06,848 built on top of the ocean. 556 00:29:06,883 --> 00:29:10,818 And if we can deploy this unsinkable metal 557 00:29:10,852 --> 00:29:14,235 for construction of the floating city, then the city 558 00:29:14,269 --> 00:29:16,237 will never sink. 559 00:29:20,759 --> 00:29:23,589 Who could have imagined that one day a ship-- 560 00:29:23,623 --> 00:29:25,039 or even a whole city-- 561 00:29:25,073 --> 00:29:29,698 might rest on a butterfly's wing? 562 00:29:29,733 --> 00:29:31,286 In California, 563 00:29:31,321 --> 00:29:33,737 researchers work on combining transparency 564 00:29:33,772 --> 00:29:36,671 and the opposite of hydrophobicity-- 565 00:29:36,705 --> 00:29:39,501 extreme water absorption. 566 00:29:39,536 --> 00:29:43,160 What's at stake is not rising water, but glaucoma, 567 00:29:43,195 --> 00:29:47,855 a group of eye conditions that can cause blindness. 568 00:29:47,889 --> 00:29:49,408 Radwanul Hasan Siddique 569 00:29:49,442 --> 00:29:54,378 at Caltech is working to create a tiny implant that would work 570 00:29:54,413 --> 00:30:00,764 inside the eye to help detect this devastating condition. 571 00:30:00,799 --> 00:30:02,835 So, in our lab, we make an optical implant 572 00:30:02,870 --> 00:30:05,873 for continuously measure the eye pressure 573 00:30:05,907 --> 00:30:07,564 for glaucoma progression measurement. 574 00:30:09,255 --> 00:30:12,949 Glaucoma is a condition that damages the optic nerve, 575 00:30:12,983 --> 00:30:16,090 most often caused by rising internal pressure in the eye. 576 00:30:18,092 --> 00:30:21,820 Today, an implant could provide easy access 577 00:30:21,854 --> 00:30:24,857 and constant monitoring for a patient at risk. 578 00:30:24,892 --> 00:30:29,241 But of course, anything inside the eye needs to be transparent, 579 00:30:29,275 --> 00:30:32,347 especially an artificial implant. 580 00:30:32,382 --> 00:30:35,488 Glass has around eight to ten percent reflection. 581 00:30:35,523 --> 00:30:39,147 And that reflection basically, you can see a glare, right? 582 00:30:39,182 --> 00:30:42,254 So if you see in the windows or glass at some angle, 583 00:30:42,288 --> 00:30:44,601 you can see glare because of the reflection of the light. 584 00:30:44,635 --> 00:30:46,292 But this glasswing butterfly, 585 00:30:46,327 --> 00:30:51,021 although it's glass-like, but it doesn't have any reflection, 586 00:30:51,056 --> 00:30:52,747 or almost no reflection. 587 00:30:52,781 --> 00:30:55,198 For Radwanul, an implant in the eye 588 00:30:55,232 --> 00:30:58,097 cannot be water-repellent like the butterfly wing. 589 00:30:58,132 --> 00:31:00,859 He needs to engineer something different. 590 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:06,381 The implant is going to be in the inside of your eye 591 00:31:06,416 --> 00:31:09,005 in the aqueous humor, which is a fluid. 592 00:31:09,039 --> 00:31:12,525 So if it's, repels water, then it's hard to implant, 593 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:14,527 and it won't survive there. 594 00:31:14,562 --> 00:31:17,496 So in our case, we need basically an opposite property, 595 00:31:17,530 --> 00:31:19,153 which is super-hydrophilic. 596 00:31:23,467 --> 00:31:24,883 To make his implant, 597 00:31:24,917 --> 00:31:28,990 Radwanul blends two chemical compounds at very high speed. 598 00:31:30,681 --> 00:31:34,720 Their combination creates nanostructures like those of 599 00:31:34,754 --> 00:31:38,172 the glasswing butterfly out of a hydrophilic material 600 00:31:38,206 --> 00:31:41,969 that patients' eyes can tolerate. 601 00:31:42,003 --> 00:31:44,903 These randomly distributed dome-shaped nanostructures 602 00:31:44,937 --> 00:31:49,459 conserve the transparent properties of their model. 603 00:31:49,493 --> 00:31:51,357 Because the gaps between them are so narrow, 604 00:31:51,392 --> 00:31:54,188 bacteria cannot get a grip on the surface, 605 00:31:54,222 --> 00:31:57,432 reducing the risk of infection. 606 00:31:57,467 --> 00:31:59,710 Once we introduce a nanostructure like the 607 00:31:59,745 --> 00:32:02,610 glasswing-inspired nanostructures on the implant, 608 00:32:02,644 --> 00:32:06,855 it shows better performance, has a better optical readout, 609 00:32:06,890 --> 00:32:09,513 and also, it doesn't show any anti-fouling, 610 00:32:09,548 --> 00:32:10,894 any fouling properties, so... 611 00:32:10,929 --> 00:32:13,759 Which means no tissue are encapsulating, 612 00:32:13,793 --> 00:32:17,314 no, no bacteria are sitting, and we may take a measurement 613 00:32:17,349 --> 00:32:19,523 over a year inside a rabbit eye 614 00:32:19,558 --> 00:32:21,940 without seeing any kind of fouling. 615 00:32:36,023 --> 00:32:39,509 Not all butterfly wings are visually arresting. 616 00:32:41,235 --> 00:32:42,788 The nanostructures in wings 617 00:32:42,822 --> 00:32:46,550 are not only involved in color, transparency, 618 00:32:46,585 --> 00:32:49,760 or tricking predators. 619 00:32:49,795 --> 00:32:53,316 Some of them serve to provide direct metabolic benefits 620 00:32:53,350 --> 00:32:55,318 for survival. 621 00:33:01,634 --> 00:33:05,293 Like all insects, butterflies and moths 622 00:33:05,328 --> 00:33:07,157 are cold-blooded. 623 00:33:07,192 --> 00:33:08,848 No butterfly can take off 624 00:33:08,883 --> 00:33:11,748 without a minimum of sunlight to heat its body. 625 00:33:13,405 --> 00:33:15,855 Dark-winged butterflies absorb the heat of the sun 626 00:33:15,890 --> 00:33:19,652 more readily and seem to have an advantage over those 627 00:33:19,687 --> 00:33:22,655 with lighter-colored wings. 628 00:33:25,003 --> 00:33:27,039 It might seem that a white-winged butterfly, 629 00:33:27,074 --> 00:33:28,730 like the cabbage white butterfly, 630 00:33:28,765 --> 00:33:32,320 would be operating at a huge disadvantage. 631 00:33:32,355 --> 00:33:34,391 And yet, in the early morning, 632 00:33:34,426 --> 00:33:37,636 even on cloudy days, it is one of the first arrivals 633 00:33:37,670 --> 00:33:41,605 to gather nectar in flower fields. 634 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:43,573 How does it manage it? 635 00:33:49,372 --> 00:33:52,651 At the Paris Institute of Nanosciences, 636 00:33:52,685 --> 00:33:59,244 Serge Berthier is interested in this phenomenon. 637 00:33:59,278 --> 00:34:00,935 BERTHIER So the white butterflies 638 00:34:00,969 --> 00:34:03,351 cannot directly absorb light 639 00:34:03,386 --> 00:34:05,629 through the wings because they're white, 640 00:34:05,664 --> 00:34:08,529 and reflect all the energy. 641 00:34:08,563 --> 00:34:11,842 What they do when they need to warm up is use their wings 642 00:34:11,877 --> 00:34:15,018 as concentrators before taking off. 643 00:34:15,053 --> 00:34:18,090 They place themselves facing the sun, 644 00:34:18,125 --> 00:34:21,162 then open and close their wings like this. 645 00:34:21,197 --> 00:34:23,854 As it's very reflective, 646 00:34:23,889 --> 00:34:26,133 it sends a lot of light, and concentrates the light 647 00:34:26,167 --> 00:34:29,412 on its back, the thorax, where the wings' 648 00:34:29,446 --> 00:34:32,346 abductor muscles are located. 649 00:34:32,380 --> 00:34:34,244 So when the wings concentrate the light, 650 00:34:34,279 --> 00:34:36,867 the thorax will absorb all this energy. 651 00:34:40,802 --> 00:34:43,771 The reflective white coloration acts as a mirror 652 00:34:43,805 --> 00:34:46,601 to concentrate heat onto the animal's body. 653 00:34:48,603 --> 00:34:50,018 In the tiniest details, 654 00:34:50,053 --> 00:34:55,058 Serge Berthier can verify the way heat is sent to the thorax. 655 00:34:55,093 --> 00:34:58,855 As with all scales, we see a network of striations, 656 00:34:58,889 --> 00:35:01,409 but what's particular to the cabbage white butterfly 657 00:35:01,444 --> 00:35:04,171 is that there is a network of counter-striations, 658 00:35:04,205 --> 00:35:05,620 in this direction. 659 00:35:05,655 --> 00:35:09,072 And small compartments are formed inside. 660 00:35:09,107 --> 00:35:10,970 The cabbage white's scales 661 00:35:11,005 --> 00:35:13,973 contain tightly packed ovoid-shaped granules, 662 00:35:14,008 --> 00:35:16,252 like eggs in a carton. 663 00:35:16,286 --> 00:35:20,256 They reflect the sun's rays, but not in all directions. 664 00:35:20,290 --> 00:35:23,397 They focus the light and heat like a magnifying glass. 665 00:35:23,431 --> 00:35:26,262 The butterfly then angles its wings in a way that sends 666 00:35:26,296 --> 00:35:28,850 the heat down to its back. 667 00:35:28,885 --> 00:35:32,233 This is how the butterfly warms up. 668 00:35:32,268 --> 00:35:35,443 The butterfly just has to open and close its wings 669 00:35:35,478 --> 00:35:37,859 to regulate its temperature. 670 00:35:37,894 --> 00:35:40,759 In fact, it's the master of its own temperature. 671 00:35:45,004 --> 00:35:49,181 Finding new ways to concentrate sunlight is important 672 00:35:49,216 --> 00:35:52,667 for humans, too, in the search for cheap and efficient 673 00:35:52,702 --> 00:35:55,118 replacements for fossil fuels. 674 00:35:55,153 --> 00:35:59,191 In her lab at the University of Exeter, 675 00:35:59,226 --> 00:36:01,469 Katie Shanks is adapting the cabbage white's 676 00:36:01,504 --> 00:36:04,921 reflective nanostructures to solar panels, 677 00:36:04,955 --> 00:36:09,719 working to increase their output while reducing their size. 678 00:36:09,753 --> 00:36:12,308 So by looking at the wings of the cabbage white butterfly, 679 00:36:12,342 --> 00:36:13,999 we can actually reduce the weight 680 00:36:14,033 --> 00:36:16,001 a very significant amount. 681 00:36:16,035 --> 00:36:18,486 So in initial studies, we've been able to improve 682 00:36:18,521 --> 00:36:21,524 the power-to-weight ratio by 17 times, 683 00:36:21,558 --> 00:36:22,939 which is, is a massive amount. 684 00:36:22,973 --> 00:36:25,424 And what I'm specifically looking at is using those 685 00:36:25,459 --> 00:36:28,738 very lightweight nanostructured wings to make our own 686 00:36:28,772 --> 00:36:32,673 very compact advanced solar panel 687 00:36:32,707 --> 00:36:36,228 built into any materials. 688 00:36:39,197 --> 00:36:42,441 Today, by combining the properties of the glasswing 689 00:36:42,476 --> 00:36:43,960 and cabbage white wings, 690 00:36:43,994 --> 00:36:47,205 researchers are hoping to develop a new generation 691 00:36:47,239 --> 00:36:50,069 of solar panels. 692 00:36:50,104 --> 00:36:53,038 So the glasswing butterfly would be for the surface, 693 00:36:53,072 --> 00:36:54,384 the entrance aperture. 694 00:36:54,419 --> 00:36:56,421 And the cabbage white butterfly 695 00:36:56,455 --> 00:36:58,457 would be for the side walls, 696 00:36:58,492 --> 00:37:00,873 just before the solar cells. 697 00:37:00,908 --> 00:37:03,359 And overall, that means we get this kind of 698 00:37:03,393 --> 00:37:06,051 increased power output from all the solar cells, 699 00:37:06,085 --> 00:37:09,503 but not using as much PV material. 700 00:37:09,537 --> 00:37:10,538 And you can also make it 701 00:37:10,573 --> 00:37:14,335 a lot smaller and lightweight, as well. 702 00:37:14,370 --> 00:37:17,165 I mean, all of the butterflies and lots of other things 703 00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:19,202 in nature have had to do this, you know, 704 00:37:19,237 --> 00:37:21,653 as, as they've developed, they've evolved, 705 00:37:21,687 --> 00:37:24,449 and they've tweaked themselves to suit their surroundings. 706 00:37:24,483 --> 00:37:26,899 And I think we're now realizing we have to do the same 707 00:37:26,934 --> 00:37:29,592 in terms of tweaking our, you know, energy demands 708 00:37:29,626 --> 00:37:33,216 and our uses and our materials that we use to kind of make sure 709 00:37:33,251 --> 00:37:35,011 we are also sustainable and surviving, 710 00:37:35,045 --> 00:37:36,875 just as the butterflies are. 711 00:37:38,739 --> 00:37:41,880 It's remarkable that butterfly wings can offer protection 712 00:37:41,914 --> 00:37:43,916 from predators and rain, 713 00:37:43,951 --> 00:37:46,954 and also capture the sun's rays to warm up. 714 00:37:48,645 --> 00:37:51,614 But that's not the end of their impressive biology. 715 00:37:51,648 --> 00:37:55,687 Their delicate antennae serve as highly sensitive 716 00:37:55,721 --> 00:37:58,517 chemical-detecting noses. 717 00:37:58,552 --> 00:38:00,623 They have those little pits that are inside of, 718 00:38:00,657 --> 00:38:02,590 are along the length of the antennae. 719 00:38:02,625 --> 00:38:05,766 And those sensory pits are basically capable of, 720 00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:08,355 of detecting kind of chemical compounds, 721 00:38:08,389 --> 00:38:11,185 and basically olfaction, or, or smelling. 722 00:38:14,533 --> 00:38:18,330 The antennae of the male Bombyx are loaded with a multitude 723 00:38:18,365 --> 00:38:21,091 of microscopic sensing organs, 724 00:38:21,126 --> 00:38:28,029 known as sensilla, that vibrate at very high frequency. 725 00:38:28,064 --> 00:38:31,274 They can home in on the one kind of pheromone molecule 726 00:38:31,309 --> 00:38:34,346 they are looking for, among all the other ones 727 00:38:34,381 --> 00:38:37,556 in suspension in the atmosphere. 728 00:38:37,591 --> 00:38:40,973 In fact, some researchers believe that the silk moths 729 00:38:41,008 --> 00:38:44,632 have some of the most highly developed senses of smell 730 00:38:44,667 --> 00:38:46,531 in the living world. 731 00:38:46,565 --> 00:38:49,188 Males are thus able to detect a female 732 00:38:49,223 --> 00:38:51,570 from over six miles away, 733 00:38:51,605 --> 00:38:54,746 an extraordinary feat which scientists working on 734 00:38:54,780 --> 00:38:57,645 the detection of explosives or toxic gases 735 00:38:57,680 --> 00:39:01,511 would love to harness. 736 00:39:03,237 --> 00:39:06,654 Valérie Keller and her team are part of a program 737 00:39:06,689 --> 00:39:11,210 for protecting civilian populations. 738 00:39:11,245 --> 00:39:15,387 You can see on the antennas that the sensilla's structure 739 00:39:15,422 --> 00:39:18,286 is kind of like tiny sticks. 740 00:39:18,321 --> 00:39:21,428 We drew inspiration from them. 741 00:39:21,462 --> 00:39:24,500 In fact, we are trying to do bio-inspiration by making 742 00:39:24,534 --> 00:39:27,675 a synthesis in the lab that enables us 743 00:39:27,710 --> 00:39:31,507 to duplicate this architecture you see in nature. 744 00:39:31,541 --> 00:39:32,922 Mechanically duplicating 745 00:39:32,956 --> 00:39:38,548 the anatomical genius of the Bombyx is not an easy task. 746 00:39:38,583 --> 00:39:41,655 Valérie Keller's team is creating a forest of sensilla 747 00:39:41,689 --> 00:39:47,488 via a chemical reaction on a titanium base. 748 00:39:47,523 --> 00:39:49,456 The result is a forest-like arrangement 749 00:39:49,490 --> 00:39:53,667 of titanium dioxide nanotubes. 750 00:39:53,701 --> 00:39:55,669 If a chemical molecule in the air 751 00:39:55,703 --> 00:39:57,325 attaches to the nanotubes, 752 00:39:57,360 --> 00:40:00,708 its weight changes the vibration frequency of the forest, 753 00:40:00,743 --> 00:40:05,748 slowing them down in a way that can set off an alarm. 754 00:40:05,782 --> 00:40:09,441 TNT, sarin gas, and other toxic chemicals 755 00:40:09,476 --> 00:40:11,892 all have their own weights. 756 00:40:11,926 --> 00:40:14,860 Nanotubes are programmed to react to those signals 757 00:40:14,895 --> 00:40:16,310 to trigger alarms. 758 00:40:16,344 --> 00:40:21,039 At the French-German Research Institute of Saint-Louis, 759 00:40:21,073 --> 00:40:25,768 Denis Spitzer foresees a big future for these detectors. 760 00:40:27,597 --> 00:40:30,876 We can come up with stationary detectors, but then we can go on 761 00:40:30,911 --> 00:40:32,844 basing them on the butterfly, that is, 762 00:40:32,878 --> 00:40:36,019 we can start to make the detectors fly, 763 00:40:36,054 --> 00:40:39,367 and the idea came to us to implant these detectors 764 00:40:39,402 --> 00:40:42,750 on drones, so that the military 765 00:40:42,785 --> 00:40:46,202 or civil security people can detect dangerous compounds. 766 00:40:46,236 --> 00:40:47,962 It could be war toxins, 767 00:40:47,997 --> 00:40:51,828 or sarin gas, or other extremely dangerous compounds. 768 00:40:51,863 --> 00:40:53,485 Because when the person feels 769 00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:57,489 the first symptoms of gas like that, it is already too late. 770 00:41:02,045 --> 00:41:05,117 Drone surveillance of large urban areas 771 00:41:05,152 --> 00:41:09,121 could save major populations from terrorist gas attacks. 772 00:41:25,793 --> 00:41:29,935 The amazing evolutionary tricks of butterflies and moths 773 00:41:29,970 --> 00:41:34,595 are not limited to their wings, or their antennae. 774 00:41:34,630 --> 00:41:37,322 Unlike many insects, they don't have what might be 775 00:41:37,356 --> 00:41:40,221 recognized as a mouth. 776 00:41:40,256 --> 00:41:42,534 Most of the butterflies and moths that we, we think of 777 00:41:42,569 --> 00:41:45,882 have a sucking mouth part, like a proboscis, 778 00:41:45,917 --> 00:41:48,989 that is kind of coiled up, that kind of is like a straw. 779 00:41:49,023 --> 00:41:50,646 And it kind of extends outwards 780 00:41:50,680 --> 00:41:53,994 with this cranial sucking pump, and it sucks up 781 00:41:54,028 --> 00:41:56,617 nectar from flowers. 782 00:42:06,420 --> 00:42:09,630 Many butterflies live only for a few weeks. 783 00:42:09,665 --> 00:42:13,013 But one, called Heliconius, stands out, 784 00:42:13,047 --> 00:42:16,188 with a lifespan closer to six months. 785 00:42:20,848 --> 00:42:24,714 This relatively long-lived butterfly fascinates 786 00:42:24,749 --> 00:42:29,270 Adriana Briscoe and Larry Gilbert. 787 00:42:29,305 --> 00:42:31,825 One of the ways we think they can live so long 788 00:42:31,859 --> 00:42:35,035 is because they have changed their diet. 789 00:42:35,069 --> 00:42:39,764 They live a long time because they have developed this ability 790 00:42:39,798 --> 00:42:42,283 to harvest pollen. 791 00:42:44,009 --> 00:42:48,496 While most butterflies feed mainly on nectar, 792 00:42:48,531 --> 00:42:50,844 Heliconius adds pollen to its diet. 793 00:42:50,878 --> 00:42:54,675 The pollen sticks to the entire length of its proboscis. 794 00:42:54,710 --> 00:42:58,196 The pollen might keep the butterfly healthy, 795 00:42:58,230 --> 00:43:02,096 but Adriana has found a possible medical application 796 00:43:02,131 --> 00:43:05,721 derived from the way Heliconius digests the nutrient. 797 00:43:05,755 --> 00:43:08,931 She's collaborating with chemist Rachel Martin. 798 00:43:08,965 --> 00:43:10,864 This is the part of the proboscis 799 00:43:10,898 --> 00:43:12,451 where fluids can go in...Mm-hmm. 800 00:43:12,486 --> 00:43:14,626 ...and they can also go out. 801 00:43:14,661 --> 00:43:16,801 I was really fascinated to find out that 802 00:43:16,835 --> 00:43:18,078 it acts like a sponge. 803 00:43:18,112 --> 00:43:19,458 I was kind of always picturing this being 804 00:43:19,493 --> 00:43:21,633 like a giant drinking straw.Oh, yeah, no. 805 00:43:21,668 --> 00:43:23,946 You can see that there are these ridges 806 00:43:23,980 --> 00:43:28,295 shown in green, 807 00:43:28,329 --> 00:43:32,333 and those are perfect grooves for pollen to get stuck in. 808 00:43:32,368 --> 00:43:33,334 When the butterflies 809 00:43:33,369 --> 00:43:35,474 probe the flower, 810 00:43:35,509 --> 00:43:38,201 and the pollen grains start to get stuck in those grooves, 811 00:43:38,236 --> 00:43:42,412 the butterflies then release saliva from the tip 812 00:43:42,447 --> 00:43:43,655 of their proboscis, 813 00:43:43,690 --> 00:43:45,899 and that starts to glue things together. 814 00:43:45,933 --> 00:43:47,797 It makes sense that the butterfly would have enzymes 815 00:43:47,832 --> 00:43:49,109 that are really optimized 816 00:43:49,143 --> 00:43:51,870 for getting into those little nooks and crannies, 817 00:43:51,905 --> 00:43:53,354 and digesting the protein, 818 00:43:53,389 --> 00:43:57,082 because pollen is about 20% protein, so it's a... 819 00:43:57,117 --> 00:43:58,808 That's a lot.It is a lot. 820 00:43:58,843 --> 00:44:02,709 The Heliconius's long life might be explained in part 821 00:44:02,743 --> 00:44:05,781 by this intake of high-protein pollen, 822 00:44:05,815 --> 00:44:09,336 which it actually digests on the outside of its proboscis 823 00:44:09,370 --> 00:44:12,684 thanks to a very particular type of enzyme. 824 00:44:12,719 --> 00:44:16,308 That enzyme is known as cocoonase, 825 00:44:16,343 --> 00:44:20,485 because it was originally discovered in silk moths. 826 00:44:20,519 --> 00:44:26,525 Silk moths have one version of this enzyme which they use 827 00:44:26,560 --> 00:44:29,874 to digest their silk cocoons 828 00:44:29,908 --> 00:44:31,772 so they can escape. 829 00:44:31,807 --> 00:44:34,154 If that enzyme is not functioning, 830 00:44:34,188 --> 00:44:38,330 they die in their cocoons. 831 00:44:38,365 --> 00:44:41,713 By extracting this cocoonase enzyme to reproduce 832 00:44:41,748 --> 00:44:43,577 its dissolving properties on a large scale, 833 00:44:43,611 --> 00:44:47,477 Adriana hopes to alleviate 834 00:44:47,512 --> 00:44:52,517 potentially serious medical conditions like blood clots. 835 00:44:52,551 --> 00:44:56,866 Blood clots are very common in the United States. 836 00:44:56,901 --> 00:45:02,492 It turns out you can take cocoonase, and in a test tube, 837 00:45:02,527 --> 00:45:04,736 you can mix it up with a blood clot 838 00:45:04,771 --> 00:45:07,739 and it'll break it down into its component parts. 839 00:45:10,293 --> 00:45:12,951 Like the silk protein fibroin, 840 00:45:12,986 --> 00:45:19,371 the cocoonase protein is also compatible with human biology. 841 00:45:19,406 --> 00:45:22,029 And the longevity Heliconius 842 00:45:22,064 --> 00:45:25,067 may glean from pollen shows how tightly the evolution 843 00:45:25,101 --> 00:45:27,794 of butterflies depends on the plants they feed on. 844 00:45:27,828 --> 00:45:33,731 Plants and butterflies have mutual evolution. 845 00:45:33,765 --> 00:45:36,181 From egg to chrysalis, 846 00:45:36,216 --> 00:45:39,460 many butterfly species are born, grow up, and metamorphose 847 00:45:39,495 --> 00:45:44,362 on individual plant species with which they are associated. 848 00:45:44,396 --> 00:45:47,986 You sometimes have a species of butterfly or moth 849 00:45:48,021 --> 00:45:50,161 that is the only thing that can pollinate 850 00:45:50,195 --> 00:45:53,440 a particular, a particular species of, of flower. 851 00:45:53,474 --> 00:45:56,788 And so, these really tight interactions mean that 852 00:45:56,823 --> 00:45:59,895 if we lose one of those members of this partnership, 853 00:45:59,929 --> 00:46:02,345 then you often end up losing both species. 854 00:46:07,868 --> 00:46:11,285 The fates of butterflies and plants are forever linked, 855 00:46:11,320 --> 00:46:14,323 to such a degree that we cannot hope to preserve 856 00:46:14,357 --> 00:46:18,776 butterflies without preserving their ecosystems. 857 00:46:21,364 --> 00:46:26,438 Today's climate change may have very unfortunate consequences. 858 00:46:36,690 --> 00:46:38,934 Spring has come to Mexico, 859 00:46:38,968 --> 00:46:42,765 signaling to the monarchs the time to return. 860 00:46:42,800 --> 00:46:47,218 But these butterflies, who migrated south in the fall, 861 00:46:47,252 --> 00:46:48,978 now have to fly back north. 862 00:46:52,223 --> 00:46:55,916 How will they know which way to fly? 863 00:46:59,333 --> 00:47:06,271 Christine Merlin keeps a small group of monarchs for study. 864 00:47:06,306 --> 00:47:07,859 Just want a cooperative one. 865 00:47:07,894 --> 00:47:10,275 You know, cooperate with me. 866 00:47:10,310 --> 00:47:12,830 That one is actually in the process of laying an egg. 867 00:47:12,864 --> 00:47:16,868 She wants to explore and understand which specific genes 868 00:47:16,903 --> 00:47:19,733 trigger the migration and guide them on their way. 869 00:47:19,767 --> 00:47:21,839 This one just did. 870 00:47:21,873 --> 00:47:24,427 Okay, this one is getting ready. 871 00:47:24,462 --> 00:47:28,328 Christine believes that changes in the environment 872 00:47:28,362 --> 00:47:29,363 trigger a response 873 00:47:29,398 --> 00:47:31,849 in the migratory genes of the monarchs, 874 00:47:31,883 --> 00:47:35,576 a process known as epigenetics. 875 00:47:35,611 --> 00:47:37,026 I'm not as good as my student. 876 00:47:39,408 --> 00:47:42,894 So with each butterfly's egg, she analyzes a range of genes 877 00:47:42,929 --> 00:47:45,690 to discover which are involved with the timing 878 00:47:45,724 --> 00:47:48,796 of the monarchs' navigation and which 879 00:47:48,831 --> 00:47:50,902 with the direction they follow. 880 00:47:50,937 --> 00:47:54,147 One of the best example of epigenetic changes 881 00:47:54,181 --> 00:47:58,082 that occur in, in monarch migration 882 00:47:58,116 --> 00:48:02,327 is that of the recalibration of their sun-compass orientation 883 00:48:02,362 --> 00:48:07,643 from southward in the fall to northwards in, in the spring. 884 00:48:07,677 --> 00:48:09,990 And... 885 00:48:10,025 --> 00:48:12,406 We do believe that epigenetic changes 886 00:48:12,441 --> 00:48:15,720 are responsible for this switch in flight orientation. 887 00:48:19,310 --> 00:48:21,588 Migrating monarchs also use 888 00:48:21,622 --> 00:48:26,282 magnetic fields to guide their flight orientation. 889 00:48:26,317 --> 00:48:28,250 To find genes that allow monarchs to sense 890 00:48:28,284 --> 00:48:31,460 the magnetic field, Christine uses a Faraday cage 891 00:48:31,494 --> 00:48:35,464 that blocks the outside electromagnetic influences. 892 00:48:35,498 --> 00:48:38,950 There, she generates her own magnetic field 893 00:48:38,985 --> 00:48:41,401 to test the reaction of the monarchs' behavior. 894 00:48:43,886 --> 00:48:45,923 We use a magnetic coil 895 00:48:45,957 --> 00:48:49,409 to test the response of monarch butterfly 896 00:48:49,443 --> 00:48:52,205 to the reversal of the inclination. 897 00:48:52,239 --> 00:48:57,348 And when butterfly sense and respond to this reversal, 898 00:48:57,382 --> 00:48:58,866 they start flapping their wings really strongly, 899 00:48:58,901 --> 00:49:00,144 they have an active flight. 900 00:49:00,178 --> 00:49:04,769 And once we reverse the magnetic field back to normal, 901 00:49:04,803 --> 00:49:07,461 then the behavioral responses extinguishes itself. 902 00:49:13,226 --> 00:49:16,194 The evidence is in: monarchs are genetically programmed 903 00:49:16,229 --> 00:49:19,922 to align with the magnetic field, and we can see them 904 00:49:19,957 --> 00:49:23,822 flap their wings when they sense it. 905 00:49:23,857 --> 00:49:26,998 When the seasons change, causing a change of temperature, 906 00:49:27,033 --> 00:49:29,414 a change of the angle of the sun, 907 00:49:29,449 --> 00:49:31,313 as well as a change 908 00:49:31,347 --> 00:49:33,315 in the daily sunshine duration, 909 00:49:33,349 --> 00:49:34,972 the butterflies' genes 910 00:49:35,006 --> 00:49:38,699 trigger a signal to migrate. 911 00:49:40,046 --> 00:49:42,255 When in Canada and the U.S., 912 00:49:42,289 --> 00:49:44,498 the onset of fall signals departure. 913 00:49:46,224 --> 00:49:49,124 "Colder-- go south!" 914 00:49:49,158 --> 00:49:54,025 When in Mexico, spring tells them, "Go north!" 915 00:49:54,060 --> 00:49:58,478 Given the extent that monarchs depend on temperature, 916 00:49:58,512 --> 00:50:00,307 it's not surprising that climate change 917 00:50:00,342 --> 00:50:02,827 worries researchers like Delbert, 918 00:50:02,861 --> 00:50:05,519 who monitors monarch populations 919 00:50:05,554 --> 00:50:09,075 in part to understand the risks we all face. 920 00:50:09,109 --> 00:50:10,352 In that way, 921 00:50:10,386 --> 00:50:13,976 by studying monarchs' biology very closely, 922 00:50:14,011 --> 00:50:17,014 it indirectly tells us 923 00:50:17,048 --> 00:50:21,535 our own impacts on their environment that they cover. 924 00:50:21,570 --> 00:50:25,091 So we want to watch what's happening to them, 925 00:50:25,125 --> 00:50:29,992 watch how they're being impacted, such that we know then 926 00:50:30,027 --> 00:50:33,547 how other species may potentially being impacted, 927 00:50:33,582 --> 00:50:36,343 because they're being impacted by those same climate change. 928 00:50:43,143 --> 00:50:45,145 Well, butterflies and moths are really a big part 929 00:50:45,180 --> 00:50:47,665 of the whole ecosystem. 930 00:50:47,699 --> 00:50:49,839 So, if we were to lose a certain species, 931 00:50:49,874 --> 00:50:52,083 or groups of species, like butterflies and moths, 932 00:50:52,118 --> 00:50:53,981 we'd lose pollinators, for sure, 933 00:50:54,016 --> 00:50:58,227 but we'd also lose an important diet for birds. 934 00:50:58,262 --> 00:50:59,642 We'd lose an important diet 935 00:50:59,677 --> 00:51:01,092 for other insects, like dragonflies. 936 00:51:01,127 --> 00:51:03,577 We'd lose important diet items even for people. 937 00:51:03,612 --> 00:51:05,579 Because there are people that like to eat these, these 938 00:51:05,614 --> 00:51:06,787 as food items. 939 00:51:06,822 --> 00:51:09,169 So, it's a kind of a cascading effect. 940 00:51:09,204 --> 00:51:11,654 It's not just that you would lose this one insect. 941 00:51:11,689 --> 00:51:15,313 You would actually lose many members of the community 942 00:51:15,348 --> 00:51:16,901 to which it belongs. 943 00:51:16,935 --> 00:51:18,558 And that's, I think, the thing 944 00:51:18,592 --> 00:51:20,111 that we're, we're working against. 945 00:51:23,321 --> 00:51:24,805 Butterflies and moths 946 00:51:24,840 --> 00:51:27,325 are inspiring scientists and engineers 947 00:51:27,360 --> 00:51:31,295 to create remarkable inventions. 948 00:51:31,329 --> 00:51:33,124 From the nanoscopic structures on their wings 949 00:51:33,159 --> 00:51:36,023 that create color and transparency 950 00:51:36,058 --> 00:51:39,475 to their ability to repel water and fight infection, 951 00:51:39,510 --> 00:51:44,342 they offer lessons about what's possible 952 00:51:44,377 --> 00:51:47,345 at the very smallest scale. 953 00:51:47,380 --> 00:51:50,417 But they also present us with a warning 954 00:51:50,452 --> 00:51:52,592 about what's at stake if we fail 955 00:51:52,626 --> 00:51:59,599 as stewards of this endlessly inventive natural environment.