Xiulin Ruan with his lab’s sample of the whitest paint on record
The world’s whitest white paint has been created by improving upon the formulation of an ultra-white paint developed by researchers at Purdue University in Indiana in October. The formulation could provide a cheap way to cool buildings by simply painting their roofs.
The new paint’s extreme whiteness is due to very high levels of barium sulfate, which is also a key ingredient in photographic paper and cosmetics. It appears to be the nearest white counterpart to Vantablack, which is one of the blackest substances known and was developed in 2014 by UK-based Surrey NanoSystems. The barium sulfate particles in the product are all different sizes, and that gives it the broadest spectrum scattering of light and contributes to its high reflectance.
A pigment from red cabbage could help turn your favorite foods blue
Apr. 9, 2021 , 4:15 PM
It’s not that hard to make a natural blue dye. Just take a red cabbage, cut it into pieces, and boil it. What you get is a purple broth that turns bright blue when you add some baking powder.
Children have been doing this for decades, but researchers have struggled to turn this or similar natural blues into a stable and abundant colorant one that could be used to naturally dye your favorite candies, sodas, or ice creams. Now, a team says it has found a way and the key lies in the humble cabbage itself.
A new color, out of the blue
The accidental discovery and creative possibilities of the first inorganic blue pigment discovered in more than 200 years.
By Viviane CallierUpdated March 5, 2021, 2:59 a.m.
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YInMn Blue is dense, concentrated, and highly opaque. MAS SUBRAMANIAN
Envy the bright blue Morpho butterfly, the blue-rayed limpet, and the blue jay, endowed by nature with the ability to reflect light into varying shades of one of natureâs most elusive colors: blue. Humans may
not be able to avail themselves of this neat trick, but thanks to the widening availability of the pigment in
The first new blue in 200 years is now available for purchase
Updated Feb 05, 2021;
Posted Jan 28, 2021
The newest pigment of blue to be discovered in roughly 200 years is now available for purchase. (photo by OSU/Mas Subramanian/Andrew E. Smith)
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You can now purchase the first new blue to be discovered in over 200 hundred years.
Called “YInMn,” the blue was accidentally created by a graduate student at Oregon State University in 2009. Now, over a decade later, it’s commercially available for anyone interested in adding a new shade to their surroundings.
Hyperallergic explains that Andrew E. Smith accidentally mixed yttrium, indium, manganese, and oxygen together while he and his fellow team of scientists were testing various earth elements for their potential use in electronics. He was instead presented with the brilliant blue of YInMn.