Learn How Animals Use Color
Fall fashion weeks in New York and across the Atlantic recently came to a close. According to fashion blogger Coquette, the colors that emerged from the Bryant Park runways this season were yellows, grays, violets, reds, and fresh interpretations of the ever-classic black-and-white combination. Dozens of stylish men and women everywhere are surely snapping up garments in these shades–unless they’re truly fashion-forward, in which case they’re already predicting next season’s palette. The point is that for humans, color is mostly negligible, a fluid fancy. Unlike much of the rest of the animal kingdom, our fates do not explicitly depend on color–although one has to wonder if Michelle Obama didn’t win some votes with that fabulous purple sheath. In late September the Harvard Museum of Natural History opened an exhibit called “Language of Color,” which showcases the mechanics behind color–some colors are made of pigments while others are the result of how physical structures absorb light–as well as the myriad ways different organisms use and perceive color in camouflage, mating, warning, and hunting and foraging. Whales, who are stuck in perpetual monochrome, would do well with Michael Kors this season. Here’s Dr. Sarah Schlesinger of The Rockefeller University on why science is as least as important as your wardrobe. Plus, her first science experiment tested the effect of light on plants. Very science forward.
