WEBVTT - Why Is Pink the World's Oldest Color?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, we all know that the

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<v Speaker 1>ocean is blue, or sometimes a nice blue green, or

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<v Speaker 1>during storms and inky blue black. But this wasn't always

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<v Speaker 1>the case. Prehistoric oceans were not blue like they are today.

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<v Speaker 1>The scientists have discovered that ancient oceans were actually a

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<v Speaker 1>rosy hue, making pink the world's oldest known color created

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<v Speaker 1>by living things. The researchers, who published their findings in

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<v Speaker 1>the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences back

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<v Speaker 1>in found the pink pigment in bacteria fossils that date

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<v Speaker 1>back one point one billion years in what's now part

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<v Speaker 1>of the Sahara Desert in Mauritania, West Africa, but was

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<v Speaker 1>once a vast ocean. The fossils were of tiny cyana bacteria,

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<v Speaker 1>which are single celled organisms that are thought to have

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<v Speaker 1>survived on sunlight, using an ancient form of chlorophyll to

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<v Speaker 1>capture the light energy and convert it into food. These

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<v Speaker 1>cyana bacteria were the dominant life form in Earth's oceans

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<v Speaker 1>for eons. They seem to even predate algae, which have

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<v Speaker 1>only been traced back about six hundred and fifty million years.

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<v Speaker 1>The bacteria were so small and so prevalent that the

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<v Speaker 1>researchers think they actually prevented larger life forms from evolving

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<v Speaker 1>for hundreds of millions of years because there are thousand

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<v Speaker 1>times smaller than even tiny algae. It wasn't until algae

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<v Speaker 1>started taking over that there was enough of a food

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<v Speaker 1>source for larger, more active organisms to thrive. But what

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<v Speaker 1>made these little microbes think pink? The fossilized chlorophyll inside

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<v Speaker 1>the bacteria was concentrated into dark red and purple hues,

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<v Speaker 1>But in pulverizing and studying the bacteria molecules, the researchers

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<v Speaker 1>found the pigment to be a brilliant, bright pink, which

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<v Speaker 1>means that when diluted by water or soil, it would

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<v Speaker 1>have lent a pink cast to earth and sea. This

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<v Speaker 1>is unlike modern chlorophyllm, which today is the bright green

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<v Speaker 1>compound that lets plants turn light into food and gives

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<v Speaker 1>most plants, from trees to grass to cabbage their green color.

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<v Speaker 1>While it is rare for ancient chlorophyll to be preserved,

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<v Speaker 1>these samples were probably formed when a bloom of Cyana

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<v Speaker 1>bacteria quickly sank to the sea floor, where the environment

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<v Speaker 1>was lacking the oxygen molecules that bolster decay. Once they sank,

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<v Speaker 1>the microbes eventually fossilized, and the rock they became part

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<v Speaker 1>of remained motionless and in one piece for a billion

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<v Speaker 1>years for the researchers to make this discovery. Today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>is based on the article Earth's oldest color was pink

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<v Speaker 1>on how stuff works dot Com, written by Lori l. D.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is a production of I Heart Radio in

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<v Speaker 1>partnership with how stuff works dot Com, and it is

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler Play four more podcasts from my heart

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