Sticky notes became associated with canary yellow because, during prototyping, the lab adjacent to the inventors had only yellow scrap paper available.

Cyanoacrylate, or superglue, was discovered by accident during World War II when researchers tried to create a clear plastic for precision gunsights.

The creator of 'The Simpsons' made his characters yellow so they would contrast with everything else on TV.

Lasers have been used to create natural adhesives for paper

German researchers at four Fraunhofer institutes have developed a method to seal paper packaging using a carbon monoxide laser. Without the need for glue or plastic adhesives, the Papure project is expected to improve the recyclability of paper. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Benjamin Franklin advocated for the use of paper money and even engineered some key anticounterfeiting techniques used today.

Multiple sugar substitutes were accidental discoveries when lab workers didn't wash their hands.

Besides allowing patients to see how much medication they had left, transparent orange pill bottles were introduced in 1968 to protect medications from degradation caused by ultraviolet radiation.

The pharmaceutical industry evolved, in part, from the discovery of synthetic dyes

In 1856, a chemist accidentally discovered mauveine, the world's first synthetic dye, while trying to make quinine to treat malaria. The synthetic dyes that followed helped reveal germs under microscopes, paving the way for modern imaging techniques and breakthrough treatments, such as antibiotics.

Tennis balls are yellow, partly thanks to a suggestion by British naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough.

Glow sticks feed energy released in chemical reactions to fluorescent dyes

When bent, the glass tube inside the stick breaks, releasing hydrogen peroxide into the surrounding solution. The ensuing reaction creates unstable molecules that decompose and release energy, which is then absorbed by molecular dyes that emit light when their excited electrons return to lower energy states.

Aspartame was a surprise discovery from a lab working on gastric ulcers

As with saccharin and cyclamate, the aspartame discovery arose from its discoverer tasting something sweet from his workplace. In 1965, American chemist James Schlatter licked a white powder off his finger as he picked up a piece of paper and was startled to discover it tasted sweet. He applied for a patent for the substance, and received it in 1970. It is now one of the most popular artificial sweeteners. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Office Assistants, including Clippy, were digitally edited with Macintosh computers

The animated characters served as intelligent user interfaces for Microsoft Office and were sketched by hand before being scanned. Clippy was selected as the default assistant after social psychologists at Stanford University identified it as the most trustworthy, likable, and humorous character based on public testing.

Colored paint lines on new tires mark different types in the factory

Each stripe helps warehouse workers and distributors identify tire types at a quick glance. This innovation became important a century ago as manufacturers scaled operations and developed distinct product lines.

Gold's electrical conductivity, reflectivity, and catalytic capabilities make it scientifically valuable

Although gold has been prized since its use in 40,000 BCE for decorative purposes, it has more recently served as a replacement for mercury in the production of PVC plastic. Because gold does not react with air or corrode, it has remained in circulation and reused in electronics and biomaterials.

Miracle berries make things that normally taste acidic or sour, such as lemons, taste sweet, like sugar-coated candy, by binding a special protein called miraculin to taste buds.

The centuries-old history of titanium white goes back to the Inca

Titanium white can be found in items ranging from paint to pills. Though it was created in New York in 1908, the pigment was first used hundreds of years earlier by the Inca, according to this article.

Why helium helped preserve the US' founding documents, but was later replaced

In 1951, the Charters of Freedom were stored in glass and metal cases filled with helium, which would not chemically react with the documents. After microscopic cracks were identified in the glass through which helium could leak out of and—experts feared—pollutants could infiltrate, new encasements made of aluminum, titanium, and argon replaced the old system in 2003.

Explore the chemical compounds found in fireworks

Besides the various salts and metals used to produce fireworks colors, shells are also filled with gunpowder and oxidizers to help fuel and accelerate reactions. Chlorates help strengthen colors, while dextrin, a starch, helps hold mixtures together.

Teflon was an accidental discovery by a DuPont scientist in the 1930s resulting from efforts to create a safe refrigerant.

The research that led to sour

Scientists are trying to figure out if there are unique receptors that respond to the molecules that make up flavors we associate with calcium, blood, batteries, and other items that often escape dinner menus. Taste researcher Dr. Danielle Reed says the minimum evidence for a taste category typically involves identifying dedicated receptors and then removing them to show the taste vanishes.

Modern roll-on deodorant design was modeled on the ballpoint pen

Instead of a messy cream, which had been the norm in the 1940s, a new roll-on deodorant inspired by the easy flow of a ballpoint pen debuted in 1952.

Wood that changed the color of water was the earliest recorded example of fluorescence

Lignum nephriticum, a tea used to treat kidney and urinary illnesses, was described in the 16th century as derived from white wood that turned water a bluish hue. However, in the 17th century, accounts described the wood as reddish and creating a kaleidoscope of colors in water. In 1915, the sources were identified as two different woods, which absorb UV radiation and emit visible light.

Blacklights can illuminate certain biological materials, including blood, teeth, and fingernails, because they contain fluorophores—molecules that visibly glow immediately after exposure to higher-energy light.

The unexpected origin story of the snow globe

In 1900, a Vienna tradesman named Erwin Perzy I was attempting to invent an inexpensive way to improve light amplification in hospital operating rooms. After experimenting with a glass globe filled with water, the idea for the snow globe struck. Industrious as well as inventive, Perzy eventually turned his idea into a successful business. Read the full article to learn how the invention grew to become recognized globally.

Scientists can tag distinct proteins with fluorescent probes that emit different colors, allowing them to visualize multiple biochemical processes simultaneously.

Breaking down sunlight and why the sun appears yellow despite emitting green light the most

This peak intensity is produced alongside a spectrum of other colors, which, when combined, make the sun appear white in space. Since Earth's atmosphere scatters bluer and greener wavelengths of light more than red and orange wavelengths, sunlight reaching Earth's surface appears yellow, while the sky appears blue. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

'Magic ink' is redefining the tattoo

One University of Colorado professor has developed an ink that can be "turned on" with exposure to UV light, and "turned off" with sunlight. While the ink could help those who want to hide their body art from family members or coworkers, there are potential uses for medical procedures.

Scientists used mass spectrometry to determine the materials in a 1690 painting

Previously used to map the distribution of molecules on biological tissue samples, researchers combined the technique with machine learning to uncover six layers of pigments, binders, and a thin gold leaf layer within *The Marriage of the Virgin*, from a collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The technique may help identify and track artists' material use to learn about pieces of unknown provenance. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Strands of DNA can act as biochemical Velcro and fasten two molecules together because the complementary bases that make up DNA strands bond together consistently.

Thomas and Anne Rogers were famous counterfeiters in 17th-century England

The pair used a practice called “coin clipping,” shaving the edges off silver coins to decrease their weight before sending them back into circulation. When banknotes rather than coins gained popularity, counterfeiting methods evolved—in the 1700s, an early banknote counterfeiter named Mary Butterworth created counterfeit paper money using starched cloth and a hot iron to transfer the pattern of a banknote onto paper.

Retrospekt is one of many companies making money by flipping old, fan-favorite technology like Polaroids, cassette tapes, and Tamagotchis.

'Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot, others transform a yellow spot into the sun.'

- Legendary artist Picasso (1881–1973)

Rune Elmqvist forwent practicing medicine to invent the first inkjet printer

The Mingograph recorded real-time physiological signals from a patient's electrocardiogram, helping doctors diagnose heart and brain conditions. Eight years later, in 1958, Elmqvist worked with cardiac surgeon Åke Senning to develop the first fully implantable pacemaker.

Joseph Pulitzer mainstreamed yellow journalism

One way Joseph Pulitzer revolutionized the newspaper industry was by developing an approach to reporting that relied on sensationalism and could be a little loose with the facts. Pulitzer and rival William Randolph Hearst pushed that sensationalism to the next level in their competition to attract readers.

Conversation candy hearts were originally message-free medicinal lozenges

In 1847, a Boston pharmacist invented a machine that automated the production of his pharmacy's medicinal lozenges and then formed the New England Confectionery Company, which later became part of the company now known as NECCO. By the late 1800s, they were producing cookies with Valentine-themed messages and eventually brought the romantic messages to their smaller lozenges, which they later called Sweethearts.

When it's good for your food to stick in the pan

Non-stick cookware has wired us to think any sticking in the pan is bad. While that's true for cleaning purposes, some foods—like thin smash burgers or sauces—require that stickiness to achieve the right taste or shape.

A ‘supernote,’ or nearly-perfect counterfeit $100 bill, was recently found in South Korea

These “supernotes” have even fooled US government officials. North Korea is widely believed to be behind the creation of these counterfeit banknotes.

Q-tips were invented in the 1920s, and originally marketed for cleaning babies.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

The ancient Romans invented the first known artificial sweetener—it involved lead.

The history of soap and how it forms bathtub scum and white spots in old oil paintings

Soap has been produced since at least 2,200 BCE via a chemical reaction between fats or oils and a base. This creates salts that act as molecular bridges, helping water lift dirt and grease from surfaces. The same chemistry produces scum when metals in hard water bind to soap molecules, as well as white spots in paintings when metal ions in pigments react with fatty acids in the oil binder.

During the Civil War, the US government printed paper money for the first time

Those original paper bills were called “greenbacks” or “demand notes.” Since then, paper money has evolved with different designs, names, and values. Today, it is solely issued by the Bureau of Engraving & Printing.

The history of molecular gastronomy, from thickening yolks with alcohol to making art with food

Before understanding why they worked, humans used scientific principles, including designing solutions and analyzing outcomes, to develop preservation methods like curing meat and fermenting vegetables. By the 20th century, the application of industrialized food preparation to smaller kitchens set the stage for the subdiscipline of food science.

Michael Sveda discovered cyclamate by accident

When this lab researcher brought his hands to his lips to smoke his cigarette in 1937, he tasted something sweet, which he called cyclamate. It was quickly used in diet sodas, but it was banned from the US in 1969 after being linked to rodent bladder cancer in lab experiments.

A joke about mercury in an elevator led to the invention of emoticons

A false message about mercury contamination was posted in response to a physics problem on Carnegie Mellon's discussion board in 1982, which some users took seriously. The need to indicate which messages were jokes led to the creation of facial expressions using special characters.

Harvard and MIT researchers are developing life-saving tattoos

Tattoos aren’t just a fashion statement. Scientists are trying to find life-saving applications for them. Harvard and MIT researchers are developing tattoo inks that react to body chemicals, alerting diabetics to blood sugar fluctuations or athletes to dehydration. Someday, patients may observe their body chemistry with tattoos that change colors.

Multi-material 3D printing produces filament waste if only one nozzle is used

When swapping between colors or materials in a fused deposition modeling system, a considerable amount of filament is purged from the nozzle before introducing a new filament. Filament extruders can create new filament from purged elements, but the device combines colors and produces filaments of inconsistent diameter.

Oxford scientists turned Fleming’s mold discovery into medicine

In 1939, a team at Oxford—including Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, and Norman Heatley—revived Fleming’s forgotten discovery. Using makeshift equipment like bedpans and milk churns, they purified enough penicillin to prove it could treat deadly infections.

The 2008 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded for discovering and developing uses for green fluorescent protein—a biomolecule found in Aequorea victoria, a jellyfish native to the Pacific Northwest.

Explore how Sanborn fire insurance maps used color-coded buildings and symbols to chart American towns building by building.

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.