Understand the physics behind total internal reflection and why light can become completely trapped inside a medium. This video explains the conditions required for total internal reflection, the role ...

The body hairs of the Saharan silver ant cause total internal reflection of light to make the ants almost ten times more reflective, preventing overheating and yielding their silver sheen, according ...

Cool operator: the Saharan silver ant Cataglyphis bombycina. (Courtesy: P Landmann) A species of desert-dwelling ant is able to tolerate temperatures exceeding 50 °C because its body hairs act like ...

In TIRF microscopy, fluorescent molecules are in a sample in an aqueous environment that is near a solid with a high refractive index, usually a glass coverslip. At what is called the critical angle, ...

1. The reflection of light from the surfaces of many kinds of leaves has been measured by means of a direct reading spectrophotometer, the measurements being made normal (that is, at an angle of 90⚬ ...