A new study in Nature Communications reveals that iridescent feathers go way back -- a newly discovered species of dinosaur from 161 million years ago had rainbow coloring.

But when the light hits it just right, its body flickers with shimmering rainbow colors. Now, scientists have figured out how this fish — called the ghost catfish — creates its iridescent glow.

A new study in Nature Communications reveals that iridescent feathers go way back--a newly discovered species of dinosaur from 161 million years ago had rainbow coloring.

In a rainbow, the lights goes into the droplets and gets bent (twice) to create colors. In iridescence, though, the light actually bends (diffracts) around the droplets.

Although iridescent clouds have rainbow-like colors, the way light is scattered to produce them is slightly different. Rainbows are formed by refraction and reflection.

Rainbow peacock spiders inspire miniature super-iridescent optics. Nature Communications, 2017; 8 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02451-x ...

Tuesday evening, if you happened to be looking up, you may have seen some rainbow-esqe clouds high in the sky.

A dinosaur fossil has feathers that are so well-preserved that scientists could see the microscopic color-bearing structures.They resemble those of modern hummingbirds, whose feathers are iridescent.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - There's not a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. There's an iridescent dinosaur. Scientists on Monday announced the discovery of a crow-sized, bird-like dinosaur with ...