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From waste to wonder: Revival of ancient Roman 'golden fiber' with pen shells

Popular Science

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. The golden silk, a luxury once reserved for Roman emperors, has been recreated by modern scientists. In a study published in Advanced Materials, a research team at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) announced they have successfully produced the 2,000-year-old textile known as Sea Silk. They accomplished this using threads from the common pen shell, farmed along the Korean coast. The team's work also explains the origin of the material's characteristic golden hue and its famed resistance to fading over millennia.