I've been called a big kid before and this will probably back up the accusation, but I'm excited about a new invention.

A chap called Tim Kehoe has spent 11 years staining himself, his wife, his kitchen and car, dozens of children; he's chemically burned himself, destroyed clothes and had to evacuate his family due to noxious gases.

This was all in the name of science and the development of coloured bubbles. It's an idea that most people will think "Why has noone thought of this before?". Bubbles have been around for decades and have a magical look to them. But bright vibrant versions of them would be amazing to play with!

Part of the reason it's taken 11 years to develop these brilliant things is Kehoe has invented an entirely new branch of dye chemistry. His dyes are atomically structured like a box apparantly, and chemicals are added to this base structure to absorb all but a certain wavelength of light. When these boxes come into contact with friction or water they collapse letting all light pass.

This temporary colour could have so many interesting applications. The article mentions many of these and I especially like the idea of temporary paint for decorating. You can have a few hours to play with colours in your new flat before commiting to a colour.

But colours bubbles just rock so much! They should be in the shops by February (but they're trying to get some manufactured in time for Christmas). In the mean time have a read:

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/0a03b5108e097010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html