The Lycurgus Cup, a Roman glass vessel from around 400 CE, changes color depending on how it is lit: it appears green in reflected light and deep red when illuminated from behind. Scientists traced the effect to tiny gold and silver nanoparticles dispersed through the glass. These particles alter how light interacts with the material, producing the color shift. Unlike nanoparticles on the surface of daguerreotypes, the cup’s particles are embedded in the glass, a difference that affects the way they scatter light.
Researchers had identified the mechanism, and a Dutch team had previously reproduced the effect in a 3D-printable composite, but no reliable method existed for making matching glass. University of Sheffield researchers Lisa Hollands and Caroline Jackson developed a repeatable recipe through experiments with furnace conditions, materials, oxygen levels, and additives. Hollands’s resulting glass reproduces the cup’s green-and-red optical behavior. The work also enabled glass artist Elliott Walker to create a new sculpture inspired by the ancient vessel. Combining the Lycurgus story with elements of the Farnese Atlas, the piece includes a blown-glass form that makes the color-changing effect visible. It is scheduled to debut at Sheffield’s Festival of the Mind and then become part of the university’s Turner Museum of Glass.
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Italian farmer Claudio Grossi discovered and planted seeds from his great-grandfather’s attic, growing unusually tall wheat with seven ears per stalk and multicolored kernels. The ancient grain attracted interest as a potential answer to modern agricultural challenges. (smithsonianmag.com)
Obesity rates rose dramatically over the past century, even though earlier generations ate plenty of butter and other high-fat foods. The shift accelerated in recent decades, and familiar explanations like diet and exercise do not fully account for it. (slimemoldtimemold.com)
Voyager 1’s team completed power-saving equipment swaps that will keep its remaining science instruments operating longer despite the probe losing about four watts each year. A 48-hour communications pause on Oct. 20 ended on its own before engineers sent troubleshooting commands. (jpl.nasa.gov)
![The lithium hypothesis of obesity [video]](https://hntoday.pixelshot.io/screenshots/20261031/99348d6522c847df_tn.jpeg)
The video is titled “The lithium hypothesis of obesity.” The provided page contains no information about the hypothesis or its evidence. (youtube.com)
Electrifying transport, heating and industry could halve global energy demand by replacing an inefficient fossil-fuel system that wastes much of its energy as heat. Oxford professor Jan Rosenow also discusses grid demands, battery recycling, China’s solar growth and how electrification can strengthen energy security. (fullycharged.show)
The linked paper’s title proposes that Alzheimer’s disease may begin in the nose and be caused by aluminosilicates. Its contents could not be accessed, so the claim cannot be verified from the provided text. (sciencedirect.com)
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