Scientists reveal the world's oldest color has been discovered
- 6 years ago
EARTH — It turns out bright pink is the oldest color in the world.
According to a recent study from Australian National University, pink pigment was found in the marine black shales deep beneath the Sahara desert in Africa.
The researchers reportedly crushed the rocks into powder then extracted and analysed the molecules of ancient organisms inside those rocks.
The bright pink pigment discovered was actually the "molecular fossils" of chlorophyll produced by ancient photosynthetic organisms living in an ancient ocean, which no longer exists.
The fossils itself range from "blood red to deep purple" in concentrated form, and turn bright pink when it's diluted.
A researcher involved in the study commented saying after analyzing the ancient pigment, confirm tiny cyanobacteria used to live in the ocean a billion years ago.
Ancient oceans filled with cyanobacteria started to disappear around 650 million years ago, which is when algae started to spread rapidly which helped the ecosystems to evolve.
According to a recent study from Australian National University, pink pigment was found in the marine black shales deep beneath the Sahara desert in Africa.
The researchers reportedly crushed the rocks into powder then extracted and analysed the molecules of ancient organisms inside those rocks.
The bright pink pigment discovered was actually the "molecular fossils" of chlorophyll produced by ancient photosynthetic organisms living in an ancient ocean, which no longer exists.
The fossils itself range from "blood red to deep purple" in concentrated form, and turn bright pink when it's diluted.
A researcher involved in the study commented saying after analyzing the ancient pigment, confirm tiny cyanobacteria used to live in the ocean a billion years ago.
Ancient oceans filled with cyanobacteria started to disappear around 650 million years ago, which is when algae started to spread rapidly which helped the ecosystems to evolve.