Science

I don't think you're ready for this jelly

Another one of Mr. Aran Shaunak’s Little Bites of Science

I don't think you're ready for this jelly

Fact: You can get glow-in-the-dark ice cream.

You might have heard somewhere that Tonic water glows under UV light, but the story of the glow-in-the-dark ice cream takes all that one step further. Its jellyfish flavoured!

Using the physics of fluorescence, animals can produce light by a phenomenon called bioluminescence – they produce proteins which absorb light and then emit it in a particular colour, making them glow in the dark to attract mates or warn off predators. Jellyfish are some of the most famous bioluminescent creatures, since the ‘green fluorescent protein’ (GFP) made by them revolutionized biological experiments by allowing scientists to mark specific proteins in cells and thus watch them under a fluorescent microscope.

The company ‘Lick Me, I’m Delicious’ has now put that same protein in an ice cream, so when the protein is warmed up and exposed to the ions in your saliva it begins to emit light – or to put it simply, it glows when you lick it. Awesome? Yes. Expensive? Yes: £140 per scoop to be precise.

Perhaps more insane, the same company made a flavour of ice cream called ‘The Arousal’, which contains 25mg of Viagra per scoop and tastes like champagne. Just make sure you don’t comfort eat the whole tub in one sitting.

From Issue 1654

27th Jan 2017

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Read more

Graduand dragged out from ceremony after protesting for Palestine

News

Graduand dragged out from ceremony after protesting for Palestine

An Imperial graduate was removed from the graduation ceremony after displaying a sign stating “Imperial funds genocide” on Tuesday 3rd June. The protest, which has since been uploaded to social media, was a call for “divestment,” in response to what the student called Imperial’s “financial ties to the ongoing

By Mohammad Majlisi
How the Supreme Court ruling on gender is impacting queer people at Imperial

News

How the Supreme Court ruling on gender is impacting queer people at Imperial

Last month, the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) ruled that for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 (EA 2010), the definition of a woman is based on biological sex.  The case brought before the court, For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, asked if transgender women should be included

By Oscar Mitcham and Isabella Duchovny