According to scientists at Bell Labs, brittlestars are armored with an
array of crystals which act as microscopic lenses. Brittlestars turns
dark during the day, and gray at night, which doesn't work very well
as camouflage. The brittlestars use the lenses to sense light. The
lenses have characteristics which are beyond those which can be
manufactured by humans. An article on this subject by Joanna
Aizenberg et al. appeared in Nature on August 23.
blurb@alacosta.org
