Its Like We Are the World in Soap Bubbles

November 15, 2005 10:31 PM

Colored Soap Bubbles
Look, pretty! via
posted by fenriq (23 comments total)

Not just pretty, the dye that Tim Kehoe invented disappears after exposure to the air. Its applications could range from toothpaste to sunscreen to anti-bacterial wipes, it would be quite easy to see where you've cleaned and where you haven't. And that's just for starters. Paintball comes to mind as another possibility.
posted by fenriq at 10:35 PM on November 15, 2005

You, sir, are a horrible tease. These aren't yet available in any store.
posted by jonson at 10:57 PM on November 15, 2005

I like how every bubble comes with a little photographer man on the inside...
posted by Meccabilly at 12:10 AM on November 16, 2005

If the dye disappears when the bubbles pop, how come there are colored splotches on the grass?
posted by Addlepated at 12:30 AM on November 16, 2005

This is the greatest thing since world peace.
posted by TwelveTwo at 12:33 AM on November 16, 2005

Do you need a special machine to blow these Zubbles? The kids on that film seemed singularly unsuccessful in their attempts to blow their own.
posted by Joeforking at 1:27 AM on November 16, 2005

"The kids on that film seemed singularly unsuccessful in their attempts to blow their own."

I don't think that word means what you think it means.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 2:46 AM on November 16, 2005

...their attempts to blow their own.

All coversations eventually come to this.

Er, but on a more serious note, kids always suck at blowing bubbles.
posted by neek at 4:30 AM on November 16, 2005

Doesn't anyone remember the zap-it?
posted by IronLizard at 5:38 AM on November 16, 2005

This will find immediate use at raves.

In fact, I'm going to be buying a bubble machine just to use this for the new party that I'm starting up next month.
posted by empath at 6:31 AM on November 16, 2005

the good thing about real bubbles is that if you look closely you see fantastic swirling rainbow colours inside them (when reflecting light in the right way). I fear these coloured bubbles will ruin that. I therefore condemn them.
posted by leibniz at 7:07 AM on November 16, 2005

I was waiting for the happy music to turn suddenly malevolent, while an ominous cloud of pitch black bubbles slowly descended on the unsuspecting preschoolers....
posted by CynicalKnight at 7:17 AM on November 16, 2005

Addlepated, the dye disappears after exposure to the air or some scrubbing action. It doesn't go away instantly but it does go away.

And therein lies some tremendous promise outside of the bubble universe.

PopSci had a long article getting into the chemistry behind suspending a dye in a solution being blown into bubbles but the link's been broken since yesterday. It really is pretty fascinating stuff. I'll see if they've fixed it yet.

Ah, here we go.
posted by fenriq at 7:25 AM on November 16, 2005

leibniz : "the good thing about real bubbles is that if you look closely you see fantastic swirling rainbow colours inside them"

Agreed. The whole point of bubbles is that they're rainbow colored and swirly. These don't seem nearly as fun.
posted by Bugbread at 7:52 AM on November 16, 2005

Notice how the kids are hellbent on destroying all bubbles. I blame Dubbya.
posted by cleverusername at 8:21 AM on November 16, 2005

posted by CynicalKnight at 8:43 AM on November 16, 2005

You can blow cigarette smoke into regular bubbles thus creating smoky rainbow bubbles. These bubbles aren't translucent enough for that although I have every intention of trying them out just as soon as I possibly can.
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:39 AM on November 16, 2005

Fenriq: Fascinating link. Thanks! I sure wish these Zubbles would come out in time for Christmas. My kids are going to go ape for them.
posted by Addlepated at 10:39 AM on November 16, 2005

Way cool fenriq, thanks for the fun and interesting links. Enjoyed learning more about the science of bubbles. Who woulda thunk bubbles are so complex or that coloring them would be so challenging? It's always interested me when people develop a passion for something obscure and somehow unlikely and the process of discovery becomes an intriguing adventure.

There's a lot to like about bubbles, that almost intangible air borne fragility, while still being feisty spheres. They make me immediately smile on seeing them float around, something indescribably humorous about them.

Zubbles are definitely on my Christmas present list for some little rascals I know.
posted by nickyskye at 10:39 AM on November 16, 2005

The macabre side of me would like to see what happened when Tim Kehoe made the caustic bubbles that gave chemical burns to folks unfortunate enough to have one pop on them.

nickyskye, better make that your 2006 Christmas present list, they're not available yet.
posted by fenriq at 11:30 AM on November 16, 2005

oooh that naughty macabre side of yours! I would imagine most inventors come up with dangerous versions of their ideas before the kinks are smoothed out. And there is something mischievously funny about an innocent looking airy fairy bubble unexpectedly turning out to be made of something nastily caustic.

Drat about the delayed availablility of Zubbles, will call Ascadia and check out the details.
posted by nickyskye at 7:32 AM on November 17, 2005

Ascadia says Zubbles will be out in the Spring of 2006.
posted by nickyskye at 5:47 PM on November 18, 2005

I stumbled on this independently and I've got to say this is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. The story of their coming to be is excellent. And the future uses for the dye technology are going to be very lucrative, I thought of dozens of things to do with this dye in a matter of minutes.
posted by Mitheral at 11:38 AM on December 10, 2005