Gold is red and squirrels are purple? Yes and no.

I love color, particularly the subtle way in which it reveals the workings of the universe, and hints at the deeper mysteries hidden inside each molecule.  In midsummer, wearing my science writer hat I guested at Margaret Almon's blog, writing about turning gold into red glass.

Now thanks to Stratoz, I'm musing about purple squirrels (though not in this sense) and imperial violet (Tyrian purple), the structure of which is shown at the left, on my other blog.

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A beautiful photo of Tyrian purple in the wild (explore the rest of this Tumblr, do).

If you are curious about the many ways in which color manifests, browse this beautiful web exhibit:  Causes of Color.  Safe for the science tentative!