the rolled photonic fibers presents two codependent , technologically exploitable features for light and color manipulation : regularity on the nanoscale that is superposed with microscale cylindrical symmetry , resulting in wavelength selective scattering of light in a wide range of directions . the bio - inspired photonic fibers combine the spectral filtering capabilities and color brilliance of a planar bragg stack compounded with a large angular scattering range introduced by the microscale curvature , which also decreases the strong directional chromaticity variation usually associated with flat multilayer reflectors . transparent and elastic synthetic materials equip the multilayer interference fibers with high reflectance that is dynamically tuned by longitudinal mechanical strain . a two - fold elongation of the elastic fibers results in a shift of reflection peak center wavelength of over 200 nm .