Most of us might think that world's oldest colour is black or dark grey. However, scientists have found out that bright pink is oldest known colour. Researchers looked at 1.1-billion-year-old rocks deep beneath Sahara Desert. They crushed rocks into powder and found bright pink colouring in them. This means that pink is oldest colour on geological record. Dr. Nur Gueneli from the Australia National University led research. She made discovery in lab in Australia. Dr. Gueneli said the colour was produced by ancient organisms that lived in oceans. She added that the oceans are so old they no longer exist. At that time, tiny organisms were the largest life forms on Earth.
Dr. Gueneli said her first reaction was "sheer amazement". She said her team thought rock powder might turn black when they were doing their experiments on it. Instead, it turned pink. Another researcher said: "I remember I heard this screaming in lab. Dr. Gueneli came running into my office and said, 'look at this,' and she had this bright pink stuff…It turned out to be real colour, 1.1 billion years old." The rocks could contain other colours, from blood red to deep purple. Gueneli explained how important her find was. She said: "Imagine you could find fossilized dinosaur skin that still has its original colour - green or blue. That is exactly type of discovery that we've made."
