GREEN ENERGY
Wasp has solar-cell plant in its shield
→ Scientists used to think that plants and a few bacteria were the only ones that could absorb energy directly from sunlight. Now it turns out that the oriental wasp uses specialised cells in its exoskeleton to generate electricity.
The yellow parts of the wasp’s skeleton contain the pigment xanthopterin. Scientists isolated this pigment from the wasp and used it in a normal solar cell electrode.
