超能蝴蝶
蝴蝶與飛蛾，優雅而美麗，在春夏的天空會看見牠們輕飛曼舞。絢爛色彩與優雅舞姿，艷壓所有動物。但美，不是牠們的唯一貢獻。
透過強力的顯微鏡，科學家在蝶蛾類身上發現了奇妙的寶庫及意想不到的秘密，可以借鏡和應用去幫助世界持續發展。本節目將展開一次探索蝶蛾類構造的納米旅程，從全球多個高科技實驗室到森林深處、薰衣草田，細數多個奇妙品種。
以標誌性的大藍閃蝶為例，研究人員由牠們閃爍的藍色翅膀，揭示了產生結構色的方法，研發出利用納米結構來控制光線。美國羅徹斯特大學光學研究所的郭春雷教授，一直致力複製蝴蝶翅膀結構。他研發了一種能夠吸收光譜中所有顏色的物料，有機會為可再生能源帶來革命性改變。他並利用蝴蝶翅膀的驚人抗水性，研發出一種不沉的金屬。未來若海平面持續上升，這物料將在建造漂浮城市發揮極大作用。
從翅膀到觸角，蠶蛾、玻璃翼蝶、袖蝶、帝王斑蝶和菜粉蝶，亦啟發了科學家在許多不同領域的發明，包括能源效率、醫藥手術，甚至檢測有毒物質，以拯救人們免受恐怖分子化學或氣體襲擊的威脅！
研究人員、生物學家和遺傳學家與我們分享他們的超凡實驗，一眾專家包括物理學及仿生專家塞爾·貝狄亞，以及美國自然歷史博物館的昆蟲學家謝茜嘉韋亞，則解釋了一些蝶蛾類驚人的行為和能力。
蝴蝶與飛蛾提供了很多微小構造的應用靈感，同時亦警告人類，如未能保護這個不斷創新的自然環境，會面對什麼危機。
Butterflies and moths. Graceful and beautiful, flitting and floating in our spring and summer skies. Their delicate choreographies of dazzling colors are among the most amazing in the animal kingdom. But their beauty is not the only thing they can offer.
Through the lenses of powerful microscopes, scientists discover treasures of genius and unexpected secrets that can be adapted and applied to make our world better and more sustainable. This film is a journey into the nano-dimensions of butterflies, from high-tech labs around the world to the deepest forests and lavender fields, encountering amazing butterfly species.
Like the iconic Morpho: the study of its iridescent blue wing reveals a way to produce structural color. Its nanostructures have inspired researchers to control light. Chunlei Guo, who is continuously seeking to reproduce butterfly structures, has created a material capable of absorbing all colors of the spectrum, a discovery that might revolutionize the field of renewable energies. He is also working on the amazing hydrophobic properties of the wings in order to create an unsinkable metal; we can immediately imagine how useful it could be for the construction of floating cities if the ocean levels continue to rise.
From their wings to their antennae, the blue Morpho, the industrious Silk Moth, the astonishing and transparent Greta Oto, the resistant Heliconius, the enigmatic Monarch and the delicate white Cabbage Butterfly, inspire discoveries in many different fields such as energy efficiency, medicine and surgery or even in detecting toxics in order to save lives against terrorist chemical or gas attacks!
Researchers, biologists and geneticists, share with us their thrilling experiments, while experts – like Serge Berthier, a physicist and biomimicry expert, and Jessica Ware, an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History – explain some of the butterflies' incredible behaviors and capacities.
Butterflies and moths provide lessons about what’s possible on the very smallest scales. But they also warn us about what’s at stake if we fail to protect this endlessly inventive natural environment.
