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Toys Science

Mad Scientist Invents Colored Bubbles 251

Posted by Zonk from the bubbles-make-the-heart-float dept.
Anonymous Custard writes "Popular Science has a fascinating article up about toy inventor Tim Kehoe's quest to create colored bubbles. 'Chemical burns, ruined clothes, 11 years, half a million dollars--it's not easy to improve the world's most popular toy. ... It turns out that coloring a bubble is an exceptionally difficult bit of chemistry.'"
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Mad Scientist Invents Colored Bubbles More

Mad Scientist Invents Colored Bubbles

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  • He's not a Mad Scientist! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Knight Thrasher ( 766792 ) * on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:21PM (#14057721) Journal
    He's not a Mad Scientist!

    He's a happy, idea-patented RICH inventor. ;)

    That being said, this is EXCELLENT. Imagine possibilities like clothing that changes color depending on the soap you wash it with.

    • Re:He's not a Mad Scientist! (Score:5, Funny)

      by Scrameustache ( 459504 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:30PM (#14057803) Homepage Journal
      That being said, this is EXCELLENT. Imagine possibilities like clothing that changes color depending on the soap you wash it with.

      Imagine?

      Ask your mom to put some bleach in your next color's wash, it's FUN! ;- )
    • Imagine possibilities like clothing that changes color depending on the soap you wash it with.

      Step 1: Dye
      Step 2: Bleach
      Step 3: Rinse and repeat

      And for hippies Step 1a is unmissable : Tie dye.

    • Re:He's not a Mad Scientist! (Score:5, Funny)

      by moosesocks ( 264553 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:50PM (#14057967) Homepage
      According to the article, he initially tried using nitric acid to color the bubbles because of its red color.

      The fact that he thought he could sell nitric acid as a child's toy I believe qualifies him as being legitimately crazy.

      • Re:He's not a Mad Scientist! (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Mr2cents ( 323101 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @08:03PM (#14058064)
        I liked the exploding bubble. The article didn't say much about it, but my guess is that it might have been nitric acid reacting with glycerin (producing .. nitroglycerin!). Glycerin is often used for making bubbles, it allows them to grow larger.

        I did some experiments trying to create nitroglycerin when I was 17, but later I learned that the nitric acid sold commercially contain chemicals that inhibit the reaction (the bastards!). Maybe the guy found a way to inhibit the inhibitor?

        • It would need another catalyst, not to mention you can make your own Nitric acid. W/O inhibiters.

          • Re:He's not a Mad Scientist! (Score:4, Interesting)

            by Mr2cents ( 323101 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @10:50PM (#14059468)
            The tests I did was with nitric and sulphuric acid mixed together. The sulphuric acid's role was indeed to boost the reaction. But if my understanding is correct, the nitric acid alone can also form nitroglycerin, just less, and it's slower. It could be enough to produce an audible bang.

            • Re:He's not a Mad Scientist! (Score:5, Interesting)

              by Muhammar ( 659468 ) on Friday November 18, 2005 @12:20AM (#14059982)
              Here is how you can make exploding bubbles by yourself:
              1.Get the bubble toy solution.
              2. Get the acetylene/oxygen welding torch to blow them.
              3. make these suckerz and ignite with a long twig

              (you do not turn the flame on when using the torch, of course).

              This explosive gas mixture trick works with hydrogen/oxygen also (and you get lighter-than-air floating bubbles) but acetylene+oxygen gives *much* stronger bang for the volume. Once we filled modest-size thrashbag with the mix and it cracked the window (and our eardrums) - and yes, we were standing on the veranda outside the house.

      • MSDS? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by iamlucky13 ( 795185 ) on Friday November 18, 2005 @12:25AM (#14060015)
        Let's just hope we don't find out this sweet stuff causes cancer 6 months after it hits the market. : (

        He needs to get his act in gear and make bouncing bubbles. That sounded almost equally as cool.


    • not that i'm a raver but imagine yoru enxt rave party with colored psycodelic colors .. ooooooooooooooooooooohhh

    • Not even a scientist. (Score:3, Interesting)

      by shrykk ( 747039 )
      The main character in the story, Tim Kehoe, spent years mixing dyes with soap in his kitchen and blowing bubbles with it. Nothing worked.

      After ten years of almost entirely unsuccessful tinkering, he got some financial backing and finally employed a guy with a PhD. in dye chemistry to work on the problem - who apparently cracked it by synthesising an unusual molecule called a 'lactone ring' - something Kehoe would never have created in a lifetime of messing about in the kitchen.

      The '11-year quest' mak
      • True it was the Indian chemist who did the final version of the bubbles (quite impressive work too - managed to do it within a year). I think few chemists would be able to do that sort of thing.

        But this guy had the idea, AND the persistence, AND the luck to get the financing.

        Otherwise the Indian chemist might be doing other stuff rather than bubbles.

        So what if you're brilliant AND have the idea, if you can't get any money to pull the idea into reality, the idea just stays an idea.

        Or if you're brilliant, but

  • Giggling Geek (Score:5, Funny)

    by dada21 ( 163177 ) * <adam.dada@gmail.com> on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:22PM (#14057733) Homepage Journal
    My broad just told me I was smiling like a freak and asked what was so happy-inspiring.

    Who would have guessed bubbles can make a grown man giggle still?

    Great story. I digg.

    • Re:Giggling Geek (Score:4, Funny)

      by rbarreira ( 836272 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:38PM (#14057869) Homepage
      My broad just told me I was smiling like a freak and asked what was so happy-inspiring.

      Who would have guessed bubbles can make a grown man giggle still?

      Well, I guess you're using the expression "grown man" in the broad sense...
      • "Girlfriend" has the connotation that it is a temporary description. "Wife" has the connotation that government licensed our bonding, and as an AnCap I don't want that. Growing up in Chicago, the word "broad" had a goombah root, but it was funny. I picked a new word to give my relationship a different meaning, and guess what? The broad loves it.
        • As an aussie, i like "missus" or "sheila" :)

        • Re:Giggling Geek (Score:2, Offtopic)

          by dcam ( 615646 )
          Interesting.

          As someone who is about to get married, wife for me has the connotation that the union is permanent and public, before God, friends and family. I couldn't care less about the government. But I guess Christians are funny like that.

          • Re:Giggling Geek (Score:2, Funny)

            by Anonymous Coward
            As someone who is about to get married, wife for me has the connotation that the union is permanent and public, before God, friends and family. I couldn't care less about the government. But I guess Christians are funny like that.

            Do post again after the divorce and let us know what you think then.

    • Re:Giggling Geek (Score:3, Insightful)

      by dada21 ( 163177 ) *
      FWIW, does anyone see this story as actually a decent rated-G Hollywood movie? I'm sure you'd need some artistic license, but the entire time reading it I was wishing that I had actual footage of some of the experimenting. A real life Willy Wonka sort of movie.
    • I was just telling my wife that I wasn't sure if it was the lack of food (no lunch, no dinner) or fatigue (still at work) but for some reason, those bubbles made me extremely happy (especially the blue ones). Good to know it's not just me. :-)

  • Really? (Score:3, Funny)

    by SpiritGod21 ( 884402 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:22PM (#14057735) Homepage
    I can think of all kinds of chemicals (ingredients cheaply purchased at your local supermarket) that can make one see all kinds of different coloured bubbles...

  • Wow (Score:5, Funny)

    by ApuD2 ( 929032 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:23PM (#14057738)
    "...Chemical burns, ruined clothes, 11 years, half a million dollars..."
    Sounds like Michael Jackson's life story.
  • Is sane capitlists will profit immensely on this lunatic who spent a good ammount of his life doing that. Soon you can see colored bubble bath and whatever else bubbles come in.

  • Wow, awesome. (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:27PM (#14057781)

    "Chemical burns, ruined clothes, 11 years, half a million dollars--it's not easy to improve the world's most popular toy."

    And yet, that never stops people from trying [wikipedia.org], does it?

    (Posted anon because I would like to have a political career someday)

  • As a socially concerned geek... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Elrac ( 314784 ) <carl@smotr i c z . c om> on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:29PM (#14057798) Homepage Journal
    I'm deeply concerned about the rapid decline of species, about global warming, the limping economy, political corruption, the war in Iraq and the ever-shortening attention spans of

    OOH! COOL! COLORFUL BUBBLES!!

  • Whole article (Score:4, Informative)

    by Toothpick ( 23095 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:37PM (#14057861)
    http://www.popsci.com/popsci/printerfriendly/scien ce/0a03b5108e097010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html [popsci.com]

    Printer (and user) friendly!
  • We have a number of kinds of molecules that change color when heated... eg. mood rings [wikipedia.org] or thermal printers [wikipedia.org]. Are the colored bubbles different in that the process is irreversible? Or, what is the new development?
    • This is a fairly coool invetion. First, coloring bubbles is hard work, the dye doesn't spread evenly, so you have clear bubbles with a colored bottom. That's cool chemistry right there. Then, the other cool portion of the work is that this dye degrades in the presence of air. So when you get colored bubbles all over your clothes, a few minutes after being exposed to air, the color is gone. It degrades faster if friction is involved. Article mentions all sort of positive uses for this second half of th

  • I actually.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Chickenofbristol55 ( 884806 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:39PM (#14057889) Homepage
    am a subscriber to popular science, so I read this article about a week ago. In the article it was kind of silly, because it was in the section of the "best of 2005", along with a super-advanced bionic arm, and the like. While it's a cool idea, it isn't even practical or useful (even as a form of entertainment). Here's how I think it went:

    Scientist 1 "Haha! I have done it!"

    Scientist 2 "What? Cured cancer...AIDS!?"

    Scientist 1 "No, much better!"

    Scientist 2 "Really? OMG What is it?!"

    Scientist 1 "I have created..... the first coloured bubble!!!"

    Scientist 2 "Your're a real jerk, Mark"

    Scientist 1 "True, but look at the pretty colours!"

    • Well, they don't call it Mad Science for nothing...
    • While it's a cool idea, it isn't even practical or useful

      Woah woah woah.. you're saying that fingerpaint that isn't going to stain my carpet is neither practical nor useful?

    • Re:I actually.. (Score:5, Informative)

      by fliplap ( 113705 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @08:10PM (#14058141) Homepage Journal
      Ok, apparently you didn't read the entire article then. Turn to page 130 and the last 2 paragraphs of the article.

      Other things they're thinking of:
      Finger paints that fade from everything but a special paper.
      Vanishing hair dye
      Disappearing graffiti spray paint
      Toothpaste that turns a kids mouth pink until he's brushed for 30 seconds and soap that does the same
      A swiffer type mop that dyes where you've already mopped
      A wall paint that lets you test paint colors
    • ... some of them very much non-entertainment.

      Um, from TFA:

      "When Kehoe isn't blowing bubbles for businessmen, he's at home inventing again, coming up with new uses for the disappearing dye, the importance of which is hard to overstate. For decades, the color industry has been focused entirely on color fastness. No one has really thought about the potential of temporary color. That the dye was created for children's bubbles may turn out to be just a footnote, a funny story Sabnis tells at color-chemist conven

      • Among the ideas Kehoe has already mocked up are a finger paint that fades from every surface except a special paper

        Haven't I been seeing a commercial recently for something similar from Crayon? Kids can color on the paper, but not on carpet, tables, etc.? Is it at all related, or coincidental?
        • Probably conincidental at best. Expecially if it only colors on paper they provide.
              Lots of chemicals that are transparent themselves, but when mixed turn some color.
              I remember back a few years they had these markers that you could write on paper with, but it left no trace till you used a 'special decoder marker' on it at which time the writing showed up. There were several colors you could write with but only one kind of 'decoder' marker was needed.

          Mycroft
    • If you think there aren't any uses for this, you have a small mind.
    • The article indicates that there is a lot of novel science behind the colored and disappearing-color bubbles.

  • Video (Score:5, Informative)

    by Mard ( 614649 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:43PM (#14057914)
    There is video of children playing with the bubbles on the company's website:
    http://www.zubbles.com/gallery/index.asp [zubbles.com]

    Screw Hurricane Katrina, somebody make this guy Person of the Year.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • What about dogs? I know I'm not the only person here who's played with bubbles in the presence of a dog. I swear, they will literally kill themselves from exhaustion chasing bubbles if you're not careful. These things could be dangerous for your pets...

  • Company website (Score:4, Informative)

    by Scutter ( 18425 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:44PM (#14057922) Journal
    Allegedly due out in February (not Real Soon Now) according to the article. Check out the awesome video on their website [nyud.net]. (coral cached. Actual site is http://www.zubbles.com/ [zubbles.com]
    • what is so awesome about this bunch of surly and confused-looking clean-scrubbed young mormons hopping around to a Teletubbies tune? I wanna see them all blueberry-stained now!

  • it's the diappearing part that's hard (Score:4, Insightful)

    by lashi ( 822466 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:44PM (#14057929) Homepage
    If you read TFA, it's not making coloured bubles that's hard, it's making the colour diappear that's hard.

    His first coloured bubbles stained clothes, people, pets and everything else, and horrified parents even though the dyes were washable. It took him another nine years to come up with bubbles with disappearing colour which will have implication on a lot of other fields beside toys. Security for example.

  • Offensive. (Score:2, Funny)

    by Kelbear ( 870538 )
    Scientists create colored bubbles...

    Jesse Jackson proclaims them "Bubbles of color"

  • But what about... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by kd3bj ( 733314 )
    colored antibubbles [antibubble.org]?
  • I can get red bubbles in my beer!

    Mmmm, red-bubbled beer....

    Huh, the article doesn't mention if this works for inverse bubbles.

  • Noxious gases? (Score:3, Funny)

    by whitehatlurker ( 867714 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:53PM (#14057985) Journal
    He's had to evacuate his family because he filled the house with noxious fumes.

    Beans at the Kehoes' for supper, again?

  • Tomorrow, to appear on Slashdot:
    Mad Bubbles invent colored Scientist (illustrated below)

    oOoOOooOoOooOooOoOOo :( -- HEEELP!!!

  • Patent or trade secret? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Isaac-Lew ( 623 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:59PM (#14058020)
    From TFA:

    As Popular Science went to press, Kehoe was looking for a partner with a factory that could keep the formula secret and crank out a million units in six weeks.

    Did he patent [wikipedia.org] the formula or is it a trade secret [wikipedia.org]? The article implies the latter, but a trade secret wouldn't make any sense to me (all you'd need is a reasonably competent chemist to reverse-engineer the formula).

  • The most inspiring article I've read in a long long time. Sadly, my mos impossible-sounding dreams are dwarfed by the improbability of a colored bubble. Who'd have thought?

  • FOR HOW HE DOES IT... (Score:3, Informative)

    by MLopat ( 848735 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @08:08PM (#14058120) Homepage
    ...Goto page 10 of 11 to save yourself from the extensive history of bubbles and toy manufacturing.

  • This is what science is all about: (Score:4, Insightful)

    by mblase ( 200735 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @08:11PM (#14058155)
    Like Kehoe, Sabnis doesn't seem to consider the possibility that a problem can't be solved.

    I love that one sentence. More than anything else, this one philosophy is what has led one person after another to change the world, even if it's just in the temporary-dye business.

    Good for these guys.

  • Best before (Score:2, Interesting)

    by marol ( 734015 )
    So, how long before the colour fades while the solution is in the container? I guess it's good for bussiness if you can't save the solution too long. Besides most kids probably are not much into saving fun and playtime for later either. Potentially limited storage life time may be a larger problem with some of the other products mentioned in the article.

  • Amazing range of experimental ingredients... (Score:5, Funny)

    by suitepotato ( 863945 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @08:18PM (#14058238)
    Tim Kehoe has stained the whites of his eyes deep blue.

    It seems he even tried using melange. I am impressed.
  • Oh, darn.

    Microsoft just issued prior art claiming the rights to air encased in transparent film, under the nomenclature Shrink-wrapping...
  • Tim Kehoe has stained the whites of his eyes deep blue.

    And now his product will stain the eyes of toy makers green.

  • 50 year old news? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Jason1729 ( 561790 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @08:29PM (#14058344)
    How is this different from disappearing ink?

    I also remember a toy watergun called "Zap It" that used a richly-colored dye instead of water. You'd spray it on people's clothes, but in a few minutes the "stain" was gone.
    • It's not just about disappearing dye, it's also about the dye binding correctly with the surfactant so that the bubble appears uniformly coloured. Also, doesn't disappearing ink have to dry first??
  • If you go to the MFR's website www.zubbles.com and look at the video, they're all very small bubbles (less than a silver dollar I'd say). The pictures on the PS article have a single bubble that is somewhat larger.

    I wonder if that's a limitation or just the way the pictures worked out.

    Definately picking some up when they're available. The gag potential is enormous.
  • If only Lawrence Welk were still alive!
  • If someone told me they discovered a new continent I would not be more impressed.

  • Uh (Score:2)

    by jav1231 ( 539129 )
    We don't call 'em "colored" in MY house!
  • I, for one, welcome our new Colored Bubble overlords.
  • buy as many colored products as he could afford. Back in his kitchen, he'd dump the Fruit Roll-Ups or Juicy Juice into a pan, heat it on the stove

    George's Marvellous Medicine [amazon.co.uk]?

    Shall we call this the 'Dahl Technique' [roalddahl.com] for experimental chemical synthesis?

  • Blue eyes (Score:5, Funny)

    by JazMuadDib ( 600258 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @10:09PM (#14059178)
    Come ON you guys. The man turned the whites of his eyes blue. BLUE. And you think of bubbles! For shame! Have you not considered that he may be the Kwisatz Haderach?
  • I know why he did it. He has plans to start games of real life Bubble Bobble!

  • Um what about the chemist (Score:5, Insightful)

    by syousef ( 465911 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @11:09PM (#14059593) Journal
    Personally my respect goes to the chemist that solved the problem. Not the compulsive nut job that couldn't repeat anything because he didn't keep proper notes and who had to throw a massive party and cover everyone with colour to realise they'd freak out if you did that.
  • I hate this story.. Think about it. The "inventor" hero of the story randomly trying everything and failing. It the dye master that made it work, and he's barely in the story. Typical.... and sad.
  • No comments by the "I hate patents" crowd? Nothing from the "there's no such thing as IP" kids? Hello? I know you're out there.

    Read the article. Maybe you'll decide your views on patents and IP need some rethinking.

    And no, the answer isn't that you should personally decide who gets a patent and who doesn't.

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