The Blackest Black and Whitest White

Psalm 51:7
“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

Did you know that scientists are working to create new colors? Well, perhaps it’s more accurate to say that they are working on new colorants that are being used to add color to other materials.

Portable icon with the Transfiguration of Christ, Byzantine artwork, circa 1200, depicting Elijah, Jesus and Moses with the three apostles One such colorant is called YInMn blue – so named because it consists of the chemical elements ytrrium, indium and manganese. According to an article at the Co.Design website, YInMn blue “is the first blue pigment to be discovered since cobalt blue first entered manufacturing 200 years ago” and has the advantages of not being poisonous and not fading.

Another new pigment is called NTP yellow. Unlike YInMn blue, this stuff is very poisonous. Its technical name is lead chromate.

A third new pigment – called Vantablack – is particularly interesting because it really isn’t a pigment at all. Vantablack is “essentially a specially applied coating that mimics a black hole, gobbling up light and causing it to bounce around endlessly in a forest of vertical carbon nanotubes.” Created by NASA in 2011, Vantablack “was developed … to help absorb light and radiation before it could disrupt the sensors of deep space satellites.”

While Vantablack is the blackest black ever, we find the whitest white in the Bible. Not only does it describe the appearance of Christ’s clothing at the transfiguration, it describes those of us who have been washed in the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for cleansing me from the guilt of sin through the shed blood of Your Son. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Author: Steven J. Schwartz
Ref: John Brownlee, “How Scientists Invented A New Blue (And Other Colors Created In A Lab),” Fast Company, Co.Design, 7/19/16. Photo: Portable icon with the Transfiguration of Christ, Byzantine artwork, circa 1200, depicting Elijah, Jesus and Moses with the three apostles. Courtesy of Marie-Lan Nguyen. (CC BY 2.5)