News about color, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.
Chronology of Coverage
Nov. 6, 2014
Q&A with Ben Jensen, whose company Surrey NanoSystems has developed Vantablack, substance that uses carbon nanotubes to absorb almost all light and create blackest black ever seen. MORE
Jan. 7, 2014
Study in journal Cell Reports says reasearchers have discovered genetic mutation that produces blue petunias, a rarity in nature. MORE
Sep. 17, 2013
Science Q&A on why lobsters turn from blue-green to red when boiled. MORE
Aug. 21, 2013
New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission is proposing to regulate use of the color green after city's all-borough street-hail cab’s hue was mimicked by operators without permits, repainting their vehicles to appear official. MORE
Jun. 18, 2013
Scientists who apply color to black and white images of cosmic bodies that are telescopically photographed are not employing artistic license, but are basing selected hues on colors that are there--but invisible to naked eye. MORE
Feb. 24, 2013
Lawrence Herbert created Pantone universal color language system in early 1960s, solving the problem of ordering color shades from various manufacturers. MORE
Feb. 14, 2013
Interior designer Alessandra Branca shops around New York City for red accessories to accent rooms that are grounded in neutral colors. MORE
Nov. 11, 2012
Martha Schwendener reviews exhibit Absorbed by Color: Art in the 20th Century at the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington (Metropolitan/Long Island). MORE
Oct. 23, 2012
Researchers have been studying the physics and chemistry of the color blue in nature, as well as the role of blue pigments in human culture; scientists are intrigued by the chemical complexity of blue hues, which are relatively rare in the natural world. MORE
Oct. 23, 2012
Blue pigment, which occurs infrequently in nature, remained rare and expensive until the dawn of the industrial age, likely explaining blue’s longstanding association with royalty and divinity. MORE
Sep. 11, 2012
Sonke Johnsen study in journal Experimental Biology suggests that two species of deep-sea crab have rare color-coding visual abilities that allow them to differentiate food from toxic coral. MORE
Aug. 21, 2012
Dr George M Whitesides study in journal Science describes the development of soft-bodied robots that can either blend into or stand out in their environment by changing their color; flexibility and coloration feature could make robots useful in search-and-rescue efforts, where they could make their way into difficult spaces and serve as visual markers to helps search crews. MORE
Jul. 10, 2012
Study published online in journal Frontiers in Zoology finds that male blue tits, unlike many other birds, judge females visually, and are more attentive fathers to their babies if the mother bird is more colorful. MORE
Jan. 5, 2012
Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, describes how she helps choose Pantone's paint color of the year. MORE
Nov. 22, 2011
Study published in journal PLoS Biology determines original colors of fossilized moth that lived 47 million years ago; co-author Maria McNamara of Yale University says findings can help scientists determine the communication strategies of the insect. MORE
Nov. 22, 2011
Study published in journal Current Biology finds people who experience grapheme-color synesthesia, the involuntary association of colors with letters, numbers and words, exhibit heightened activity in the brain region associated with vision; Devin Blair Terhune of Oxford University is study's lead author. MORE
Jun. 30, 2011
Paint companies are hoping to distinguish themselves in the sputtering economy with names for colors that tell a story, summon a memory or evoke an emotion, although there is little relation to the actual color; there is a new urgency among paint manufacturers to get consumers to buy their products, as the sales of interior paint tumbled when the housing bubble burst. MORE
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Highlights From the Archives
The color red can make people’s work more accurate, but blue can make people more creative, a study suggests.February 6, 2009 scienceNews
ARTICLES ABOUT COLOR
Ben Jensen, a British scientist, explains why his company’s new invention, Vantablack, may not work in your home. Not even on an accent wall.
November 6, 2014, Thursday
A manager’s colorful work area at Pantone reflects the company’s mission: to create color standards that can be used by a range of designers.
October 19, 2014, Sunday
Color converges with art criticism to help shape the Color Field paintings in two shows, one featuring Helen Frankenthaler, the other Morris Louis.
September 19, 2014, Friday
An exhibition in London of color photography from Russia traces a century of often forbidden history.
September 10, 2014, Wednesday
They look different, but the difference in nutritional value between the different-colored eggs is negligible.
August 26, 2014, Tuesday
At 94, the French artist has a new show in New York, and a museum focusing on his works is opening in France.
May 21, 2014, Wednesday
Spring looks beg for more color in makeup: Here’s how to handle it.
May 15, 2014, Thursday
The Kaffe Fassett exhibition at the American Museum in Britain tracks the Californian designer’s half century of textile work.
March 25, 2014, Tuesday
Whether rainbow-hued or glittery, obscure nail polish colors have a devoted following.
March 13, 2014, Thursday
The war photographer Robert Capa, best known for his stark black-and-white images, also worked with color film, as “Capa in Color” at the International Center of Photography shows.