Not only masters of camouflage, squids may also be experts in solar power.
A fascinating study has uncovered that the pigments responsible for their remarkable color shifts could play a role in generating electricity.
The dazzling color-changing abilities of cephalopods, including octopuses, cuttlefish, and squids, allow them to blend into their surroundings or communicate visually with one another.
While researchers have long known that pigment-filled chromatophores in their skin are involved in this process, the exact mechanisms remained unclear, until now.
Converting light into electricity
Taehwan Kim and his team at the U.S.-based Northeastern University created a solar cell to investigate whether the pigment granules inside the chromatophores of the longfin inshore squid (Doryteuthis pealeii) could help convert light into electricity.
Researchers found that when squid pigments were placed into a…
