Uploaded February 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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Why do we see rainbows in soap bubbles? What makes an oil slick so oddly beautiful? Iridescent colors, which transform depending on the angle you look at them, are all over nature. How does physics make these shifting rainbows? We’re going to find out with the help of the National Museum of Natural History's most spectacular specimens – from bird feathers and beetle wings to fossils and gemstones.

Check out some of my other videos about color in nature:
In search of the blackest thing on Earth youtu.be/86P03RlegBM
Why is blue so rare in nature? youtu.be/3g246c6Bv58

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