Butterfly Effect  Sophisticated method of manipulating light is
discovered in Princeps nireus  In 2001, Alexei Erchak at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, unveiled a
groundbreaking light-emitting diode that suffered none of the
light losses that can plague ordinary LEDs. Erchak's device was
modified with a special reflective layer and an optical
structure, known as a photonic crystal, that together captured
light that would otherwise have been lost and channeled it into
a useful beam. The design funneled six times as much light into
its beam as an unmodified one, an improvement that astounded LED
researchers at the time.  Now a UK team says the structure that
makes Erchak's LEDs so special is not unique after all. Look
hard enough and you can find it in the fluorescent wings of male
African swallowtail butterflies of the Princeps nireus species.
What is more, the structure of these wings is subtly different
from the MIT design in a way that may offer clues for improving
LEDs further.  P