A'clear glass' technology has been developed that is transparent enough to be invisible to the human eye, but birds can detect it.



The National Institute of Ecology under the Ministry of Environment announced on the 26th that it has developed an'optical element array' technology to prevent bird collisions and applied for two related patents.



The Ecological Imitation Research Team at the National Institute of Ecology has been conducting'Research on the Structure Color Imitation of Bird Feathers' since 2018 with Professor Jongseok Yeo's team at the Department of Global Convergence Engineering at Yonsei University.

They obtained feathers from the carcasses of 10 species of domestic birds, such as bluebirds and jays, stored in the Wildlife Rescue Center, and analyzed the principle of their color expression.




As a result, the researchers found that the brilliant colors of the feathers of some birds, such as blue and green, are caused by the microstructure inside the feathers, not by pigment.

We found out that depending on the arrangement of the nanoparticles, light is selectively reflected and appears in a specific color.



The researchers even succeeded in reproducing the color of the bird's feather by creating an optical device that mimics this structure, that is, a lens that passes light through an optical device.



Furthermore, we found a way to apply this principle to the surface of transparent structures such as windows and sound barriers.

Then we thought that the algae that sensed the light reflected off the nanostructure could recognize the structure and avoid collisions.




It is known that as many as 20,000 birds a day lose their lives by colliding with glass windows and transparent soundproof walls, and in the past, we have reduced accidents a little with a campaign to attach a translucent'UV reflective tape' to the glass.



However, if transparent glass with new technology is commercialized, it is expected that birds will be protected from collisions without compromising human vision and aesthetics.



Park Yong-mok, head of the National Institute of Ecology, explained, "The value of using eco-friendly technologies learned in nature such as research on eco-imitation is endless."

In particular, the technology is expected to be used as a key technology to develop a new display that reproduces vivid colors while using little power in the future.



This is'News Pick'.



(Photo = National Ecological Institute website,'Green Alliance' YouTube)