While paint is often seen as a modern convenience, humans have utilized pigments for over 40,000 years, with some of the oldest examples found in the Cave of El Castillo in Spain. These early artisans sourced pigments from natural minerals like ochre, hematite, and manganese oxide, combining them with binders such as plant sap, animal fat, or even saliva. The evolution of color has also seen its share of dark history, including the use of "Mummy Brown," a pigment literally made from ground-up Egyptian mummies, and "Scheele’s Green," a 19th-century favorite that contained lethal levels of arsenic.
In the modern era, paint technology has advanced to include high-tech applications like Vantablack, a coating of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes that absorbs 99.96% of light. Scientists have also developed a "super white" paint made with a high concentration of barium sulfate, which reflects up to 98.1% of solar radiation. This material is so effective it can cool surfaces below the surrounding air temperature, offering a passive cooling solution for buildings. Beyond aesthetics, paint serves vital industrial roles, with enough produced annually to fill 20,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools, protecting infrastructure like cars, planes, and bridges from rust and corrosion.
Want to learn more? Head over to my website www.funfactsdailypod.com and be sure to listen to my other podcasts Who ARTed: Weekly Art History for All Ages or Art Smart. For family fun, check out my son's podcast Rainbow Puppy Science Lab
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