{"id":338,"date":"2025-08-01T13:31:55","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:31:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/?p=338"},"modified":"2025-08-01T13:31:55","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:31:55","slug":"peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/08\/01\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Peacock Feathers Made to Glow with Laser Light"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When scientists infused peacock feathers with a fluorescent dye and hit them with pulsed laser light, something remarkable happened: they started to lase. Not randomly, but with clear and repeatable emission lines that revealed something deeper inside the feather. The study, published in <em>Scientific Reports<\/em>, shows that the eyespots of male Indian peafowl feathers harbor hidden, persistent microstructures that behave like tiny resonators\u2014scattering light in precise, unexpected ways.<\/p>\n<h2>Laser Emission from Nature&#8217;s Palette<\/h2>\n<p>The research team, led by Nathan J. Dawson of Florida Polytechnic University, applied rhodamine 6g (R6g) dye to tail feathers from Indian peafowl (<em>Pavo cristatus<\/em>), known for their iridescent eyespots. By cycling the dye solution on and off the barbules and then illuminating them with a pulsed green laser, the scientists observed sharp laser peaks in the emission spectrum. These peaks appeared consistently across different color regions of the eyespot, including green, yellow, brown, and blue zones.<\/p>\n<p>This was surprising. Typically, laser action in biological material is attributed to random feedback, where scattered light bounces unpredictably among particles. But here, the same spectral lines kept appearing\u2014even in different feathers. Something more organized was at work.<\/p>\n<h2>Key Findings<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Laser emission occurred only after multiple dye infusion and drying cycles, suggesting dye infiltration and keratin loosening are crucial.<\/li>\n<li>Sharp laser peaks appeared at consistent wavelengths across different feathers and color zones.<\/li>\n<li>Laser thresholds were lower than expected for random lasers, indicating efficient feedback in very small gain volumes.<\/li>\n<li>Reflection spectra showed low dispersion at color band edges, suggesting those bands were not the laser\u2019s source of feedback.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Not a Random Laser, Not a Crystal<\/h2>\n<p>The researchers ruled out traditional explanations for biological lasing. Photonic crystals in the feather\u2019s colorful regions weren\u2019t responsible\u2014laser peaks didn\u2019t shift with changes in those structures. Nor were whispering gallery modes likely, since the required circular cavities don\u2019t naturally form in feather microarchitecture. Instead, the authors propose that mesoscopic structures, potentially formed or revealed during the dye infusion process, act as tiny laser cavities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe system presented in this article is akin to a roulette table in which the ball always lands in either red 7 or black 28,\u201d the authors wrote. \u201cOn that table, the inside betting gambler is transformed in a savvy investor while the house quickly goes out of business.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Small Structures, Big Insights<\/h2>\n<p>By analyzing how these laser lines emerge and shift with pump power, the team estimated the size of the internal resonators. Their calculations suggest tiny, consistent optical cavities\u2014possibly just a few micrometers long\u2014may be embedded throughout the eyespot barbules. These structures are small enough to evade detection by optical microscopy, yet orderly enough to produce highly stable laser feedback.<\/p>\n<p>What might nature use them for? Probably nothing. The peacock evolved those iridescent feathers for show, not light amplification. But by pushing them past their biological role, scientists have revealed a new way to probe hidden architectures in complex materials. It\u2019s laser spectroscopy meets evolutionary art.<\/p>\n<h2>Beyond Beauty: A New Tool for Biophotonics<\/h2>\n<p>This study isn\u2019t just a curious tale of glowing feathers. It offers a proof-of-concept for using laser dyes and pump lasers to uncover nanoscale structure in biological materials. The method could become a new analytical tool in the growing field of biophotonics, helping scientists detect subtle resonances in tissues, bones, or even cells.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, looking for light in the wrong place is exactly how you find something new.<\/p>\n<h3>Journal and DOI<\/h3>\n<p>Published in <em>Scientific Reports<\/em>, Volume 15, Article 20938 (2025)<\/p>\n<p>DOI: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41598-025-04039-8\">https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41598-025-04039-8<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When scientists infused peacock feathers with a fluorescent dye and hit them with pulsed laser light, something remarkable happened: they started to lase. Not randomly, but with clear and repeatable emission lines that revealed something deeper inside the feather. The study, published in Scientific Reports, shows that the eyespots of male Indian peafowl feathers harbor &#8230; <a title=\"Peacock Feathers Made to Glow with Laser Light\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/08\/01\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Peacock Feathers Made to Glow with Laser Light\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1298,"featured_media":339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.5 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Peacock Feathers Made to Glow with Laser Light - Wild Science<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/08\/01\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Peacock Feathers Made to Glow with Laser Light\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When scientists infused peacock feathers with a fluorescent dye and hit them with pulsed laser light, something remarkable happened: they started to lase. Not randomly, but with clear and repeatable emission lines that revealed something deeper inside the feather. The study, published in Scientific Reports, shows that the eyespots of male Indian peafowl feathers harbor ... Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/08\/01\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wild Science\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-01T13:31:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/08\/peacock-laser.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"506\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Team Wild Science\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Team Wild Science\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/01\\\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/01\\\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Team Wild Science\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a5d316eb96a82fb8df7f5ac511b59e93\"},\"headline\":\"Peacock Feathers Made to Glow with Laser Light\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-01T13:31:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/01\\\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":601,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/01\\\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/15\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/peacock-laser.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Technology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/01\\\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\\\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2025\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/01\\\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/01\\\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\\\/\",\"name\":\"Peacock Feathers Made to Glow with Laser Light - Wild Science\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/01\\\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/01\\\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/15\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/peacock-laser.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-01T13:31:55+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/01\\\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/01\\\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/01\\\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/15\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/peacock-laser.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/15\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/peacock-laser.jpg\",\"width\":900,\"height\":506,\"caption\":\"abstract illustration of a peacock feather and laser light\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/01\\\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Peacock Feathers Made to Glow with Laser Light\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/\",\"name\":\"Wild Science\",\"description\":\"Nature\u2019s Secrets, Scientifically Told.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Wild Science\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/15\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/wildsciencelogo2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/15\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/wildsciencelogo2.jpg\",\"width\":200,\"height\":171,\"caption\":\"Wild Science\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a5d316eb96a82fb8df7f5ac511b59e93\",\"name\":\"Team Wild Science\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/083c0fb8bac1eb990b36f82def37144fab46ee5352c8e7ba514b01ac66cd0fe6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/083c0fb8bac1eb990b36f82def37144fab46ee5352c8e7ba514b01ac66cd0fe6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/083c0fb8bac1eb990b36f82def37144fab46ee5352c8e7ba514b01ac66cd0fe6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Team Wild Science\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/wildscience\\\/author\\\/wildscience\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Peacock Feathers Made to Glow with Laser Light - Wild Science","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/08\/01\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Peacock Feathers Made to Glow with Laser Light","og_description":"When scientists infused peacock feathers with a fluorescent dye and hit them with pulsed laser light, something remarkable happened: they started to lase. Not randomly, but with clear and repeatable emission lines that revealed something deeper inside the feather. The study, published in Scientific Reports, shows that the eyespots of male Indian peafowl feathers harbor ... Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/08\/01\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\/","og_site_name":"Wild Science","article_published_time":"2025-08-01T13:31:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":506,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/08\/peacock-laser.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Team Wild Science","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Team Wild Science","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/08\/01\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/08\/01\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\/"},"author":{"name":"Team Wild Science","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/#\/schema\/person\/a5d316eb96a82fb8df7f5ac511b59e93"},"headline":"Peacock Feathers Made to Glow with Laser Light","datePublished":"2025-08-01T13:31:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/08\/01\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\/"},"wordCount":601,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/08\/01\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/08\/peacock-laser.jpg","articleSection":["Technology"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/08\/01\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2025","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/08\/01\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\/","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/08\/01\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\/","name":"Peacock Feathers Made to Glow with Laser Light - Wild Science","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/08\/01\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/08\/01\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/08\/peacock-laser.jpg","datePublished":"2025-08-01T13:31:55+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/08\/01\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/08\/01\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/08\/01\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/08\/peacock-laser.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/08\/peacock-laser.jpg","width":900,"height":506,"caption":"abstract illustration of a peacock feather and laser light"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/08\/01\/peacock-feathers-made-to-glow-with-laser-light\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Peacock Feathers Made to Glow with Laser Light"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/#website","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/","name":"Wild Science","description":"Nature\u2019s Secrets, Scientifically Told.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/#organization","name":"Wild Science","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/04\/wildsciencelogo2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/04\/wildsciencelogo2.jpg","width":200,"height":171,"caption":"Wild Science"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/#\/schema\/person\/a5d316eb96a82fb8df7f5ac511b59e93","name":"Team Wild Science","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/083c0fb8bac1eb990b36f82def37144fab46ee5352c8e7ba514b01ac66cd0fe6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/083c0fb8bac1eb990b36f82def37144fab46ee5352c8e7ba514b01ac66cd0fe6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/083c0fb8bac1eb990b36f82def37144fab46ee5352c8e7ba514b01ac66cd0fe6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Team Wild Science"},"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/author\/wildscience\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/08\/peacock-laser.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":211,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/05\/13\/living-things-glow-faintly-with-invisible-light-and-death-makes-it-vanish\/","url_meta":{"origin":338,"position":0},"title":"Living Things Glow Faintly with Invisible Light\u2014And Death Makes It Vanish","author":"Team Wild Science","date":"May 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Cutting-edge imaging technology has uncovered that all living organisms emit an extremely faint light invisible to the naked eye, with patterns that significantly differ between life and death. These ultraweak photon emissions (UPE) offer researchers a promising tool for non-invasive monitoring of biological processes and stress responses in both animals\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Biology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Biology","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/category\/biology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Imaging Ultraweak Photon Emission from Living and Dead Mice and from Plants under Stress","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/05\/images_large_jz4c03546_0006.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/05\/images_large_jz4c03546_0006.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/05\/images_large_jz4c03546_0006.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/05\/images_large_jz4c03546_0006.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":471,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2026\/02\/03\/city-lights-are-messing-with-sharks-internal-clocks\/","url_meta":{"origin":338,"position":1},"title":"City Lights Are Messing With Sharks&#8217; Internal Clocks","author":"Team Wild Science","date":"February 3, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The nurse sharks swimming through Miami's glowing coastal waters at night aren't getting much sleep. Their blood tells the story: melatonin levels suppressed, circadian rhythms disrupted, all because the city never really goes dark. For the first time, researchers have measured the hormone in wild sharks and found that artificial\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Animal-Human Interaction&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Animal-Human Interaction","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/category\/animal-human-interaction\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"nurse shark","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/02\/nurse-shark.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/02\/nurse-shark.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/02\/nurse-shark.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/02\/nurse-shark.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":468,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2026\/02\/02\/tiny-dinosaur-rewrites-70-million-years-of-evolution\/","url_meta":{"origin":338,"position":2},"title":"Tiny Dinosaur Rewrites 70 Million Years of Evolution","author":"Team Wild Science","date":"February 2, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The bones were so small that at first glance they looked like they might belong to juveniles. But Fidel Torcida Fern\u00e1ndez-Baldor of the Dinosaur Museum of Salas de los Infantes reckoned otherwise. Scattered across the Burgos Province site in northern Spain, the delicate fossils represented at least five individuals\u2014all adults,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Behavior&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Behavior","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/category\/behavior\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Foskeia pelendonum","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/02\/foskei-pelendonu.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/02\/foskei-pelendonu.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/02\/foskei-pelendonu.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/02\/foskei-pelendonu.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":252,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/05\/23\/hawk-masters-traffic-lights-to-hunt-urban-prey\/","url_meta":{"origin":338,"position":3},"title":"Hawk Masters Traffic Lights to Hunt Urban Prey","author":"Team Wild Science","date":"May 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A young Cooper's hawk in New Jersey has learned to decode traffic signals, using the extended red lights triggered by pedestrian crossings as a hunting cue to attack songbirds with military precision. The remarkable behavior, documented by University of Tennessee researcher Vladimir Dinets, represents the most sophisticated use of human\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Behavior&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Behavior","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/category\/behavior\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Cooper\u2019s hawk dispatching a house sparrow. Image: Vladimir Dinets.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":506,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2026\/03\/09\/ancient-crocodile-relative-switched-from-four-legs-to-two-as-it-grew-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":338,"position":4},"title":"Ancient Crocodile Relative Switched from Four Legs to Two as It Grew Up","author":"Team Wild Science","date":"March 9, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The left femur is about as long as your finger. Seventy-five millimetres of hollow bone, light enough that a poodle-sized animal could carry it without much effort, robust enough to reveal something odd: it grew faster, and thicker at the top, than the corresponding arm bone from the same species.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Natural History&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Natural History","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/category\/natural-history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Artist's reconstruction of Sonselasuchus cedrus in its environment in what is now Petrified Forest National Park, 215 million years ago. CREDIT Artwork by Gabriel Ugueto","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/03\/sonselasuchus.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/03\/sonselasuchus.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/03\/sonselasuchus.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/03\/sonselasuchus.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":395,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/10\/15\/giant-rays-dive-deep-to-map-the-ocean-floor\/","url_meta":{"origin":338,"position":5},"title":"Giant Rays Dive Deep to Map the Ocean Floor","author":"Team Wild Science","date":"October 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"In the dim blue waters off New Zealand, a shadow larger than a car slips beneath the waves. Minutes later, it plunges more than a kilometer below the surface, into a realm of darkness and crushing pressure. What drives such a dive is the mystery researchers set out to solve\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Behavior&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Behavior","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/category\/behavior\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Giant manta ray","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/pexels-emmali-6565102.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/pexels-emmali-6565102.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/pexels-emmali-6565102.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/pexels-emmali-6565102.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1298"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":340,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338\/revisions\/340"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}