Starfleet Jedi

Nicholas Roberts from the University of Bristol has found a new twist to the mantis shrimp's eye. It contains a technology that's very similar to that found in CD and DVD players, but it completely outclasses our man-made efforts. If this biological design can be synthesised, it could form the basis of tomorrow's multimedia players and hard drives.

Previous studies have found that mantis shrimps can detect polarised light - light that vibrates in a single plane as it travels. Think of attaching a piece of string to a wall and shaking it up and down, and you'll get the idea. Last year, scientists discovered that they can also see circularly polarised light, which travels in the shape of a helix. To date, they are still the only animal that can see these spiralling beams of light.