Romans' Color-Changing Glass Recreated After 1,600 Years

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorScientists have recreated the color-changing glass of the Lycurgus Cup, a Roman goblet from the fourth century, the Good News Network reports.

2. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorIt took sixteen hundred years to copy one cup. That's a very slow warranty claim.

3. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe cup looks jade green in normal light and ruby red when it's lit from behind.

4. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorTwo colours. So every glass of wine in it was an argument about what you'd actually poured.

5. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorA technician at the University of Sheffield did it, after consulting a Roman glass expert. She tried different furnaces, materials, oxygen levels and ingredients.

6. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorSo the recipe is gold and silver particles, each a thousand times smaller than a grain of sand. Imagine measuring that out with a Roman spoon.

7. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe Romans did it. And the best attempt we had in the nineteen sixties wasn't close.

8. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorMy theory: one Roman dropped some jewellery in the furnace, panicked, and sold it as innovation. That's every product launch.

9. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorMine is that somebody labelled the recipe and a Roman filing clerk lost it.

10. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorDale, there's a place in my plans for you, but I've made my own arrangements, and they involve a cup that stays one colour.