Golden Beetle

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What if you reached down to grab what looked like a nugget of pure gold and it scurried away? This is the Jewel Scarab Beetle, which physicists at the University of Exeter have recently discovered the origin of the insects’ striking metallic golden appearance, showing that the golden beetles have a unique optical signature. The structure of the beetle and its armor uniquely manipulates the way the light is reflected so that it looks like pure gold.

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