POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A 20-year-old student at Florida Polytechnic University is a published scientist after he and his professor discovered peacock feathers can be used in laser physics.

“Essentially, what we found was that you can use peacock feathers to create miniature lasers,” said Anthony Fiorito, a senior engineering physics major at Florida Polytechnic University.

The research found that the feathers, when infused with special fluorescent dye, can emit laser light at specific, consistent colors.

Anthony Fiorito working in a lab at Florida Polytechnic University

“I do remember, it was very funny because we were trying to think of different things that have structural color and we were like, oh yeah, peacock feathers,” said Fiorito.

Fiorito worked on the research with Dr. Nathan Dawson, associate professor of engineering and physics at Florida Poly, using a grant from the National Science Foundation.

The team was using tropical fish as an organic material for the laser research before turning to peacock feathers.

“You try something, but you never know that it’s not going to work until it doesn’t work. It is kind of like you’re gambling with your time. It’s very fun,” he said.

After the discovery, the team collected data and checked their work to make sure their scientific breakthrough wasn’t a fluke.

“For us, it was a very drawn-out process. We had to insist on the fact that the emission was not random,” said Fiorito.

Ultimately, the research article was published in “Scientific Reports,” a peer-reviewed journal.

Scientists from Russia, Japan, Germany and other countries are writing about his research.

“I just find it fun that people are seeing that nature has a treasure trove of materials for all fields of science,” said Fiorito.

Fiorito said he hopes, down the line, scientists can figure out out genetic modification using the peacock feathers to be used in lasers and optics.

“If you can grow something that’s biologically sourced, it can be much, much cheaper,” he said.

After graduation, Fiorito plans to pursue a master’s and a PhD in physics.

Click here to read his article.