Detail of Kingfisher, woodblock printed in colour, Kitagawa Utamaro

Why does the kingfisher have blue feathers?

12 August 2015

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, K is for Kingfisher. Look out for them among the swamp cypresses at the Botanic Garden, where the secrets behind their cyan and blue feathers are being studied by an extraordinary collaboration of scientists.

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Santas

Who colour-coded Christmas?

18 October 2011

The conventional colours of Christmas – red and green – are not, as many might suppose, a legacy of the Victorians. Instead, they hark back to the Middle Ages and perhaps even earlier, according to Cambridge research scientist Dr Spike Bucklow.

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Detail from Westminster Retable

Dragonsblood: the alchemy of paint

01 September 2009

Through his exploration of the science of art, the recipes of medieval artists and the writings of alchemists, art conservation scientist Spike Bucklow sets out to disentangle the alchemy of medieval paint.

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