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Thanks to Brilliant for supporting this episode of SciShow. Go to Brilliant.org/SciShow to check out their course on Waves and Light.
感谢Brilliant对本期节目的支持。登录Brilliant.org/SciShow了解Waves and Light课程。
Iridescence is the seemingly magical ability of a surface to change color, depending on the angle you view it from.
彩虹色似乎拥有根据视角改变表面颜色的神奇能力。
It's found all over the animal world, but some of the most spectacular iridescence is found on the backs of jewel beetles.
它在动物世界里随处可见，但一些最令人惊叹的彩虹色被发现于珠宝甲虫的背部。
But these beetles aren't bright and shiny to show off. Strange as it may seem, there's evidence that they're using their coloration to hide.
但这些甲虫的闪耀色彩不是用来炫耀的。虽然似乎有些奇怪，但有证据表明它们利用自己的自然色彩来隐藏自己。
Most colors we see around us are produced by pigments, chemicals that absorb certain wavelengths of light and not others.
我们在周围看到的颜色是由色素产生的，这些化学物质可以吸收光的某种长波。
But iridescence is different. It's a structural color, which results from light interacting with the microscopic physical structure of a surface.
但彩虹色不同，它是一种结构色，是光与表面的微观物理结构相互作用的结果。
And it's responsible for some of the most brilliant colors in nature.
是自然界中一些最为明亮的颜色的原因。
These jewel beetles produce their iridescence using a multilayer reflector, which is a stack of thin layers of a molecule called chitin.
这些珠宝甲虫利用多层膜反射器产生自己彩虹色，这个反射器是由一种叫做甲壳素的分子的薄层堆叠而成。
As light reflects off each of these layers, the reflected waves are scattered to produce many different colors.
随着光线从这些薄层反射过来，反射波被分散以产生很多不同颜色。
And the angles are all a little different too, so look from one angle and you see blue, but tilt your head a little and now it's green.
角度也有所不同，从一个角度看，你看到的是蓝色，但稍微歪一下头，它就变成了绿色。
Now, eye-catching colors don't seem like they'd be an advantage to an animal that's so often prey for birds.
现在吸人眼球的颜色对这种经常被鸟类捕食的动物来说并不是什么优势。
But in February 2020, a team of researchers published a study in the journal Current Biology showing that it might not be so eye-catching after all.
但在2020年2月，一个研究人员团队在《Current Biology》期刊杂志上发表了一项研究，表明这个颜色可能根本就不那么引人注目。
They made 900 model beetles in different colors. Some were iridescent, some were solidly colored,
他们制作了900个不同颜色的甲虫模型，一些是彩虹色，一些是单色，
and some were painted with a rainbow that looked like the iridescent pattern,
一些被涂成了彩虹，看起来像是彩虹色图案，
but didn't change when looked at from different angles.
但角度的变化不会改变它们的颜色。
They filled each model beetle with mealworms as a tasty treat for hungry birds and placed them on leaves throughout a forest.
他们在每个甲虫模型上填满了粉虫作为饥饿鸟儿们的美食，并把它们放在森林中的树叶上。
After two days, they counted how many of each color had been eaten,
两天后，他们计算出每种颜色有多少只被吃掉，
and found that iridescent and black beetles survived better than any of the other colors. They came up with two hypotheses to explain this.
并发现彩虹色和黑色甲虫存活数量比其他颜色的多。对此，他们提出了两种假设。
One, the iridescence was acting as a warning sign to predators the way poisonous animals are sometimes brightly colored.
一种，彩虹色是对捕食者的一种警示，因为有毒的动物有时色彩明亮。
Or two, the predators had a harder time seeing the iridescent beetles, because they were better camouflaged.
第二种，捕食者更不容易发现彩虹色甲虫，因为它们伪装的更好。
Unfortunately it's difficult to interview birds about their diet choices,
不幸的是，很难对鸟类的饮食选择做采访，
so they got a few dozen humans together and organized an Easter egg hunt for beetles.
所以他们邀请一些人，并组织了一场寻找甲虫复活节彩蛋活动。
Since people don't usually eat mealworm-stuffed model beetles, warning signs or food preferences didn't matter.
因为人类并不食用填满粉虫的甲虫模型，所以警示或食物偏好不需要考虑。
The experiment only tested the effect of camouflage. And the results were similar. The iridescent and black beetles were the best hidden.
这个实验仅测试伪装的效果。最后结果相似。彩虹色和黑色甲虫隐藏的最好。
There aren't any iridescent forests for beetles to blend into, but there are lots of shiny leaves.
森林中没有任何彩虹色可以让甲虫混入其中，但且有很多闪亮的树叶。
In this study, if an iridescent beetle sat on a glossier leaf, it had less of a chance of being spotted.
在这项研究中，如果一只彩虹色甲虫坐在光滑的叶子上，它被发现的几率就小一些。
The model beetles with the rainbow pattern on them were found easily, so it's not just having many colors,
而光滑叶子上的彩虹图案的甲虫模型则更容易被发现，所以不仅是因为它们身上有很多种颜色，
it's that they change when either the beetle or the predator moves. This is called dynamic disruptive camouflage.
还是因为甲虫或捕食者移动时，它们身上的颜色会变化。这被称为动态破坏性伪装。
By constantly changing, the colors confuse the predator's mind, never giving them a clear outline of the beetle to focus on.
不断变化的颜色迷惑了捕食者的思维，不给它们一个清晰的轮廓来聚焦甲虫。
Other studies have found bees have a harder time recognizing iridescent shapes and birds need more attempts to catch iridescent targets.
其他研究发现，蜜蜂很难识别彩虹色形状，而鸟类需要更多的尝试来捕捉彩虹色目标。
So next time you're searching for a beetle, or an Easter egg, remember that nature sometimes has a way of hiding in plain sight!
所以下一次你寻找甲虫或复活节蛋时，记住大自然有时会在显而易见的地方隐藏起来。
If you're fascinated by the way these beetles use light to create brilliant shifting colors, you might like the course Waves and Light over on Brilliant.
如果你对这些甲虫利用光线创造绚丽多变的颜色的方式着迷，你可能会喜欢Brilliant的Waves and Light 课程。
It'll teach you all about light, not to mention other stuff that travels in waves, like sound.
该课程会教授所有关于光线的知识，当然还有其他以波的形式传播的东西，比如声音。
Brilliant is an online learning platform that aims to help you sharpen your math and science skills.
Brilliant是一个在线学习平台，其目的是帮助大家提高你的数学和科学技能。
The interactive elements in each course are designed to keep you engaged and help you hone your thinking skills.
每期课程的交互元素是为了让你参与其中，帮助你磨练思维能力。
Courses are even available offline via their iOS and Android apps, so you can keep learning even when the Internet's spotty.
在iOS和安卓端能够离线观看课程，即使网络不稳定，你也可以继续学习。
Best of all, the first 200 people to sign up at Brilliant.org/SciShow will get 20% off an annual subscription to Brilliant Premium.
最棒的是，前200名注册Brilliant.org/SciShow的用户，将获得Brilliant Premium年度会员八折优惠。
You can head over there to learn more.
你可以去那里了解更多。
