Harvard has a pigment library that
stores old pigment sources, like the
ground shells of now-extinct insects,
poisonous metals, and wrappings from
Egyptian mummies, to preserve the
origins of the world’s rarest colors.
A few centuries ago, finding a specific color might have meant trekking across the globe to a mineral deposit in the middle of Afghanistan. “Every pigment has its own story,” Narayan Khandekar, the caretaker of the pigment collection, told Fastcodesign. He also shared the stories of some of the most interesting pigments in the collection.
Mummy Brown
“People would harvest mummies from Egypt and then extract the brown resin material that was on the wrappings around the bodies and turn that into a pigment. It’s a very bizarre kind of pigment, I’ve got to say, but it was very popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.”
Cadmium Yellow
“Cadmium yellow was introduced in the mid 19th century. It’s a bright yellow that many impressionists used. Cadmium is a heavy metal, very toxic. In the early 20th century, cadmium red was introduced. You find these pigments used in industrial processes. Up until the 1970s, Lego bricks had cadmium pigment in them.”
Annatto “The lipstick plant—a small tree, Bixa orellana, native to Central and South America—produces annatto, a natural orange dye. Seeds from the plant are contained in a pod surrounded with a bright red pulp. Currently, annatto is used to color butter, cheese, and cosmetics.”
Lapis Lazuli “People would mine it in Afghanistan, ship it across Europe, and it was more expensive than gold so it would have its own budget line on a commission.”
Dragon’s Blood “It has a great name, but it’s not from dragons. [The bright red pigment] is from the rattan palm.”
Cochineal “This red dye comes from squashed beetles, and it’s used in cosmetics and food.”
Emerald Green “This is made from copper acetoarsenite. We had a Van Gogh with a bright green background that was identified as emerald green. Pigments used for artists’ purposes can find their way into use in other areas as well. Emerald green was used as an insecticide, and you often see it on older wood that would be put into the ground, like railroad ties.”
✔ Tolkien created a world that becomes a part of our recent history and left a legacy that will surely endure till the end of time
✔ He spoke more than 10 languages
✔ He was a good matematician, too, because he created the Valian Years and the Years of the Trees, basing himself on very logical algorithms
✔ He was an accomplished Historian
✔ He was a Professor at Oxford
✔ He fought in WW1
✔ He was an accomplished artist
✔ He wrote poems and songs that make you sob
✔ He was a good singer (I listened to his interpretation of Namárië , so believe me)
✔ He was married to the love of his life and he died at the age of 82 just because he lost his wife
✔ He had four children who later worked to make sure that their father’s legacy would endure
✔ He denied that immortality was a blessing, but rather a burden and blessed the simple nature of humans, and claimed that death is not a Doom to humanity, but rather a path leading us to somewhere else.
✔ Though he wrote Elves, never did he imply that the immortal, beautiful Elves are better than humans. Because we, humans, are good just the way we are
This man was a god on Earth and deserves the world
Today, January 3rd, it’s Professor Tolkien’s birthday. I chose to reblog this post of mine bc it sums up everything that, in my opinion, should be remembered when we speak of Tolkien.
This man deserves to be remembered forever. We will always love you 💕
This is a series of posters I made to show how our perception of Dinosaurs and other animals of the mesozoic changed over the years. These and few more are featured in a Youtube video you can watchHERE
this art is available for prints, t-shirts and other goodsHERE
Btw that’s both a visual and a literal Chinese pun and I’m literally laughing so hard right now (my parents say this every year) and I want everyone to understand this.
Here’s the two phrases you’ll need to know:
年年有鱼 (nián nián you yú) - “(I wish you have) fish every year”
年年有余 (nián nián you yú) - “(I wish you have) extra every year” - this is a common blessing used in China
Both the 鱼 and 余 characters sound exactly the same and here’s where the pun comes in.
Every Lunar New Year, as good luck, we eat “fish” so that we can “have fish every year”. In other words, we’re eating fish so that we can have extra every year.
Extra what, you ask? Extra everything! Extra money in the bank, extra food on our tables, extra happiness, etc, etc. It’s like an all-around blessing. Very kind and used often during Lunar New Year.
The cat has already gotten her “extra” (fish) for the year so the blogger is wishing you “fish” (extra) every year ^^
finally someone explained it, thank you<3
I am so delighted to learn that somebody else also has the tradition of eating puns for blessings on the New Year.
These are the depictions of the most intense meteor storm in recorded history – the Leonid meteor storm of 1833. The Leonid meteor shower is annually active in the month of November, and it occurs when the Earth passes through the debris left by the comet Tempel-Tuttle. While the typical rates are about 10 to 15 meteors per hour, the storm of 1833 is speculated to have been over 100,000 meteors per hour, frightening people half to death. Here’s how Agnes Clerke, an astronomer witnessing the event, described it: “On the night of November 12-13, 1833, a tempest of falling stars broke over the Earth… The sky was scored in every direction with shining tracks and illuminated with majestic fireballs. At Boston, the frequency of meteors was estimated to be about half that of flakes of snow in an average snowstorm.” (x)
as is normal round here we moved right through our three days of fall into winter. I have nothing to complain about there. I always love changes in the weather. It’s like going somewhere new without all the hassles of travel.
still, 6 months is a long time of white and brown.
