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Once in a blue moon the Outside/In team opens up the mailbag and answers your questions about the natural world. This time, they all share a preoccupation with a particular hue: blue. 

Come along as we learn about the differences between European and Aztec conceptions of the color blue, how construction workers build offshore turbine foundations under the deep blue sea, and why the most exciting picture astronauts took during Apollo 8 wasn’t of the lunar surface. 

Questions:

1. I’ve heard the color blue is rare in nature. Is that true? 
2. Are blue eyes disappearing? 
3. How do we build things underwater? 
4. Why is the sky blue? 
5. What is the etymology of the color blue? 

Featuring Kai Kupferschmidt and Justin Alves.

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LINKS

Check out science journalist Kai Kupferscmidt’s book, “Blue: In Search of Nature’s Rarest Color”

CREDITS

Host: Nate Hegyi

Reported and produced by Taylor Quimby, Felix Poon, and Nate Hegyi

Mixed by Taylor Quimby and Felix Poon

Our team also includes Justine Paradis

Editing by Taylor Quimby, with help from Rebecca Lavoie

Executive producer: Taylor Quimby

Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Outside/In is a production of NHPR