⪮ Good Morning

Apr 02024
⪮ Good Morning :: ⪮ s03e04: Blue
Marissa Mayer tasked her team with testing 41 gradations between competing blues to determine which ones consumers might prefer. #1A0DAB emerged as the winner and is now the "preferred" blue color for Google links.

Following on from last month's revelation that sunsets/sunclipse on Mars appear blue, we've compiled four other intriguing facts about blue phenomena.

Blue Raspberry Flavor

The history of blue raspberry is an interesting one! Raspberries are not naturally blue, they're red. So why the twist?

Back in the 01950s, there were already plenty of red candies and sweet treats. Cherry, watermelon, and strawberry were already strongly associated with red, so innovative purveyors turned yet another red fruit into the attention-getting blue raspberry. The flavor and color is completely artificial. The flavor is a combination of banana, cherry and pineapple while the color comes from Blue #1 (E133).

Blue Raspberry Flavor on Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_raspberry_flavor

Lapis lazuli

Lapis lazuli is an ultramarine-colored semi-precious stone. Its name originates from the Persian word lazhuward meaning 'blue'. This served as the source for blue in several other languages. In Spanish and Portuguese its 'azul' and when borrowed into English, it became 'azure'.

Linguistic Discovery on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cz70gN9psht/?igsh=NzhtdWh1eThyYTA2

Lapis lazuli on Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapis_lazuli

Colour in art: a brief history of blue pigment
https://artuk.org/discover/stories/colour-in-art-a-brief-history-of-blue-pigment

On a trip to Istanbul, Türkiye, the Nazar are everywhere.
On a trip to Istanbul, Türkiye, the Nazar are everywhere.

🧿 Nazar

Many believe that the blue acts as a protective shield against evil and negativity. Historic documents and extant beads dating back as early as the 16th century BC attest to its significance.

According to mythology, if one of the beads breaks, it means a very strong nazar has hit you and it broke for your protection.

In 02018, the nazar was added to Unicode as an emoji 🧿.

Nazar on Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazar_(amulet)

Blue whales

The blue whale is the largest animal ever known to have existed with a theoretical maximum length of 33 m (108 feet).

The fastest nerve cells in the human body can transmit information at speeds of 80-120 meters per second. If a blue whale is comparable, it would take around 0.275 seconds for a signal to travel the length of its body.

To put that into perspective, to ping a server half-way around the world in 02024, takes roughly the same amount of time.

The current Internet has the same reaction time as the largest animal that's ever lived.

Wikipedia: Blue Whale
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_whale

Wikipedia: Nerve Conduction Velocity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerve_conduction_velocity