Beyond the lab, light science pulls from nature for solutions. Inspired by the way that the Morpho butterfly creates color, researchers developed colorful cooling films that don’t absorb light and thus don’t heat up. A car with blue paint appears blue because it absorbs yellow light and reflects blue light. The large amount of light that is absorbed heats the car. Morpho butterflies, however, produce their highly saturated blue color based on the nanostructure of their wings. The design of the cooling nanofilm mimics these structures to produce vibrant colors that don’t absorb light like traditional paint. The blue version of these films uses a multilayer structure designed to reflect yellow light in a very narrow range of angles, while the disordered structure diffuses the blue light across a broad area. The structure is placed on a silver total reflection layer to prevent the absorption of solar radiation. Celebrate #LightDay2026 and learn more at the link in our bio* #Nature ...