Mantis Shrimp Eyes may Lead to a Better DVD |A mantis shrimp
(Odontodactylus scyllarus) Courtesy of Roy Caldwell, University
of California, Berkeley| Special light-sensitive cells in mantis
shrimp eyes act as quarter-wave plates, which can rotate the
plane of the oscillations (the polarization) of a light wave as
it travels through it. This capability makes it possible for
mantis shrimps to convert linearly polarized light to circularly
polarized light and vice versa. Manmade quarter-wave plates
perform this essential function in CD and DVD players and in
circular polarizing filters for cameras. However, these
artificial devices only tend to work well for one color of
light, while the natural mechanism in the mantis shrimp’s eyes
works almost perfectly across the whole visible spectrum — from
near-ultra violet to infra-red. The research was conducted at
the University of Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences in
collaboration with colleagues at University of Maryland,
Baltimore County and the University of Q