Scientists at the University of Sheffield have made glass that changes color in different light. A Roman cup gave them the idea. The Lycurgus Cup is about 1,600 years old. The British Museum has kept it since 1958.
The cup looks green when light hits its outside. It looks red when light passes through it. Scientists think Roman glass makers put very small pieces of gold and silver into the glass. These pieces change how light moves through the glass or bounces off it.
Lisa Hollands led the work. She worked with Caroline Jackson, an expert on Roman glass. They first made glass like the Roman kind. Hollands then tested different materials and ways of heating it. Her final method uses only materials available to Roman glass makers. Even a small change in the glass's place inside the oven could change its color.
British artist Elliot Walker used the new glass to make a sculpture. His work takes ideas from old Roman stories and art. It will go on show at the university's Festival of the Mind. After that, it will have a permanent home at the university's Turner Museum of Glass.
