Edelweiss Flowers Photo
Edelweiss Flowers PictureWith mathematical modeling techniques, we were able to show that when ultraviolet waves fell on the structure, they were guided by it and eventually absorbed, either within the walls of the hairs or, possibly by a material in the middle of the hairs." The It does not affect visible light at all because it has longer wavelengths than ultraviolet, so is not disturbed by the structure. Because of their small size and highly regular arrangement, these fibres together made up a structure, which absorbs ultraviolet light. "Each fibre is just 180 millionths of a millimetre in diameter.
Edelweiss Fresh Flowers
Edelweiss Send Flowers"We found that the surface of each hair is covered in tiny, regularly spaced fibers, running parallel to each other along the length of the leaf hairs," explains Vigneron. Vigneron and his fellow scientists immediately realized that there would be a wide variety of commercial uses for synthetic versions of the structure, but the prospect of actually manufacturing Edelweiss-inspired structures seemed remote. The hairs are especially abundant on the modified silver-white leaves that form the Edelweiss's "flowers". When the researchers investigated the micro-structure of Edelweiss flowers, last January, they were surprised to find a peculiar ultra-violet-absorbing structure in the dense white hairs, which cover the whole Edelweiss plant.
Exotic Flowers EdelweissNow, however, scientist Jean-Pol Vigneron of the University of Namur in Belgium and his colleagues in Budapest, Meise and Stanford think they may have found just that. There can be few flowers as well-known as the Edelweiss, but few would think to look to this woolly white, Alpine flower for a source of technological inspiration.
