text: Pigments absorb light. Soap bubbles show a prism of different colors on their surfaces. These colors result from the way light interacts with differing thicknesses of the bubble's film, a phenomenon called structural color. Part of  Qingchen Shen and Silvia Vignolini’s research focuses on identifying the causes behind different types of structural colors in nature. In one case, her group found that cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), which are derived from the cellulose found in plants, could be made into iridescent, colorful films without any added pigment.  They made films with vibrant blue, green and red colors that, when placed under sunlight, were an average of nearly 7 F cooler than the surrounding air. A square meter of the film generated over 120 Watts of cooling power.