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It's Okay to Be Smart
What Makes Birds, Beetles, and Bubbles Shine So Beautifully?
Season 11
Episode 3
Why is a soap bubble rainbow? What makes an oil slick 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.