Science quiz: Tools of writing

1 / 6 |
Name this insect. The natural dye carmine is derived from an acid it secretes to protect itself.

2 / 6 |
This historical ink was made by boiling soot from burned beechwood, yielding a warm brown, transparent pigment that faded faster than carbon black in old drawings. Name this ink, which architects and artists once favoured (but especially Rembrandt) for its light-sensitive nature.

3 / 6 |
The first half of the name of this classic ink, long used in comics, is linked to the country that traded it with China. It’s a black ink in which carbon particles are suspended in water, sometimes with shellac, so the ink is waterproof once it dries on paper. Name the ink.

4 / 6 |
In East Asian calligraphy, practitioners are known to grind a solid stick of soot and animal glue with water on a stone, adjusting how much pigment dissolves to control the ink’s darkness. This ink is known by its Japanese name and is sold as inksticks rather than as liquid. Name it.

5 / 6 |
By the 1850s, chemists were turning coal-tar benzene into vivid purple and red dyes whose molecules imparted bright colours to writing fluids. What’s this family of dyes called that transformed 19th century ink colours? Hint: the answer is also what the ‘A’ in the chemical company ‘BASF’ stands for.

6 / 6 |
Artists once extracted brown pigment from cuttlefish, then diluted it to create soft, reddish-brown tones that were unique until the advent of the first photographic processes. Name this pigment that gives drawings and photos a characteristic nostalgic brown and which shares its name with a genus of cephalopods.