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The colour of science

The Hindu festival of Holi has the Unexpected Elements team wondering: when did the world really burst into colour?

The Hindu festival of Holi has the Unexpected Elements team delving into the science of colour. First up, forget chicken and egg, we bring you a whole new controversy of which came first: colour or colour vision? Then, we learn how a new development in infrared contact lenses could extend our range of vision and help people with colour blindness.

We鈥檙e then joined by marine biologist Roger Hanlon who explains how octopuses are great at changing tones, even though they can鈥檛 appreciate the colours that they make. Plus, what鈥檚 orange, cream, 5,000 years old and worryingly resistant to most of our common antibiotics? And why does reading on dark mode leave one listener seeing things? All on this week鈥檚 Unexpected Elements.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Andrada Fiscutean and Chhavi Sachdev
Producers: Imy Harper, with Ella Hubber and Lucy Davies

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50 minutes

Last on

Sun 8 Mar 2026 20:06GMT

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