Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Happy Science Week! Welcome to ABC Science's first episode of Dr Karl's Strange But True.
In this episode we explore the bizarre story of an ancient dye worth three times its weight in gold, that was lost for 400 years and accidentally rediscovered by an 18-year-old! This small dye has played a not so small part in building the modern world...
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:06 How Purple Changed The World
2:41 How Is Tyrian Purple Made?
5:00 Who Made Artificial Purple?
6:12 An Accidental Discovery
7:35 How Did Purple Become Medicine?
Note: Captions are auto-generated
Subscribe: ab.co/2YFO4Go
Like: facebook.com/ABCScience
Follow: instagram.com/ABCHealth
---------------------------------------------------------------
This is an official Australian Broadcasting Corporation YouTube channel.
Please see the ABC Online Terms of Use for the reasons why we may remove content from this page, or ban people: http://about.abc.net.au/terms-of-use/
Happy Science Week! Welcome to ABC Science's first episode of Dr Karl's Strange But True.
In this episode we explore the bizarre story of an ancient dye worth three times its weight in gold, that was lost for 400 years and accidentally rediscovered by an 18-year-old! This small dye has played a not so small part in building the modern world...
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:06 How Purple Changed The World
2:41 How Is Tyrian Purple Made?
5:00 Who Made Artificial Purple?
6:12 An Accidental Discovery
7:35 How Did Purple Become Medicine?
Note: Captions are auto-generated
Subscribe: ab.co/2YFO4Go
Like: facebook.com/ABCScience
Follow: instagram.com/ABCHealth
---------------------------------------------------------------
This is an official Australian Broadcasting Corporation YouTube channel.
Please see the ABC Online Terms of Use for the reasons why we may remove content from this page, or ban people: http://about.abc.net.au/terms-of-use/










