Some fish wear an invisibility cloak

https://student.societyforscience.org/article/some-fish-wear-invisibility-cloak

Author: Ilima Loomis

Date: December 15, 2015

I think that this could help us make marine camouflage out of the fish that could be a great use in the future. My prior knowledge about this was that I knew fish could reflect sun from their scales which could give them slight invisibility. The Navy is looking into having their submarines camouflaged and this could be a clue to making this possible. There are many biologists involved in this research. The fish called lookdowns have a microscopic build called platelets in their skin and scales, they look like flat crystals. One hundred platelets could fit into one grain of sand. What also really helps them is the light beneath the ocean that is polarized. The light scatters in different directions and all of the light waves move the same way. Biologists have known that fish could detect polarized light when it moves. They have started to wonder if other fish use this to blend in.

This took place off of off the coast of Texas around seven o'clock in the morning. I chose this quote from the article because I thought that it was very representative, “This is a great example of nature solving problems for us.” The main idea is to help scientists understand the principles behind development in new forms of ocean camouflage. Also, it is to understand marine biology, and the science behind making camouflage. The reason it is important is that we could start to use camouflage in many different ways and understand more about it. I chose this article because I like fishing and I thought it was astonishing that an organism could do such a thing. When I saw this I was amazed that the fish called “Lookdowns” could actually do something like turning slightly invisible. My reaction to this article was great and I wanted to start researching right away. There are not to many opinions on this so far, most people and biologists think that it could be very helpful in the future. In what I have researched there is no one against it.

Works Cited

“Fish Species - Saltwater.” Florida Go Fishing. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2016. <http://www.floridagofishing.com/species/species-saltwater.html>.

“Some Fish Wear An Invisibility cloak.” Student Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2016. <https://student.societyforscience.org/article/some-fish-wear-invisibility-cloak>.