The story of Olive turn over a nuance of , well , Olea europaea .
" The story begin with a great deal of drool , " Dr. Stephanie Olson said in aviral Twitter threadon Sunday .
The adjunct professor inPurdue University ’s Department of Earth , Atmosphere , and Planetary Sciencenoticed something odd on herSaint Bernard ’s pelt . Olive ’s neck opening had turned greenish overnight !
Courtesy of Stephanie Olson
As an " former Earth geochemist , " Dr. Olson was intent onunearthingthe causal agent of the color ( wordplay designate ) .
It ’s no secret that Saint Bernards taradiddle . But after Olive had operation and was sentenced to thecone of disgrace , all that slobber collected around her arrest .
" Dog saliva contain Fe porphyrins , " Olson explained in a subsequent tweet . " Upon contact with atomic number 8 , the iron is oxidate to iron oxide nanoparticles . rusting , fundamentally . This is why Olive and many other drooly dogs have rusty cherry staining by their mouth . "
But there ’s a reason Olive ’s neck turned unripened rather of the red we see so often ondoggie eyesand mouths . concord to Olson , this chemic reaction turned into the consummate storm when Olive set down to rest ( as tired pups do ) , isolating her slobber underneath her neck plication . The deficiency of oxygen preclude red staining and instead do green rust to form .
The result was an odd ombré effect , with Olive ’s gag retain blood-red filth and blending into the pale green rust matte up in her neck fur .
Ironically enough , Olive derives from olivine , a notoriously gullible mineral with a gorgeous emerald hue . Olson joke that maybe her whelp is just honoring her namesake .
As an astrobiologist with a particular stake in Earth ’s organic evolution , Olson of course had to link her pup ’s phenomenon to the world around us . She explain that green rusting is uncommon today because of the mien of O , but our planet ’s status were dissimilar in the past tense .
" … it may have been unwashed on the ancient Earth before our atmosphere became oxygenated , " Olson said . " The oceanmay have even appear green rather of blue 2.5 billion years ago ! "
Though Olson is n’t certain how to remove the rust from Olive ’s neck opening , she stop her endearing exposé with a call to fellow geochemists for potential solutions . If she ca n’t remove it , at least Olive will have quite the trademark look !
