
Why are some feathers blue? (2012) - jcl
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-are-some-feathers-blue-100492890/
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raldi
> like a sponge or a box of spaghetti

In what way is a sponge like a box of spaghetti?

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zamadatix
" _interspersed with air pockets,_ like a sponge or a box of spaghetti."

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raldi
Is a box of spaghetti more interspersed with air pockets than a box of just
about anything else?

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lurquer
What type of pasta would be more appropriate for the analogy? Clearly,
spaghetti is probably the worst... I suggest macherroni (i.e. the mac and
cheese noodle) or, perhaps, cavatappi.

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harperlee
I think it is a good example because it is fundamentally different than a
sponge. Spaghetti have air pockets moving in just one dimension, in a linear
fashion, and of the same size; whereas a sponge has multisize 3d air pockets.

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Causality1
>scientists theorized that birds look blue for the same reason the sky looks
blue: Red and yellow wavelengths pass through the atmosphere, but shorter blue
wavelengths bounce off of particles and scatter, emitting a blue glow in every
direction.

As XKCD has pointed out, there's a complicated physics reason behind every
substance's color and the atmosphere isn't special or unusual in that regard.
The sky is blue because air is blue.

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Timpy
Right, as I was reading this I was thinking "Isn't that just describing the
way light and color normally works?" We haven't really answered the question
"why is the sky blue," more like, "how does the sky get its blue color?"

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true_tuna
Cool idea. The site is infuriating though. Auto play video bullshit.

