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1) The oceans are awash with
bioluminescent microbes, many of which
flash when disturbed. Indeed, some of
them are used to measure turbulence and
shear in liquids, since their light output
directly reflects the local movement of the
liquid.
2) There are creatures that can live in the
nastiest of environments, including highly
acidic waters.
3) Therefore, we ought to be able to find a
bioluminescent microbe that can survive
modest levels of acidity and ethanol.
4) Most living things are edible.
So. By selective breeding from a
promising starting point, we develop a
bioluminescent microbe which is happy in
wine. A few drops of the culture added to
a humble Pinot Grigio would transform it
into a swirling light show. A dash added
to a sparkling wine would add entrancing
scintillae to every bursting bubble.
tequila worms.
http://www.straight...ssics/a990702b.html
[pyggy potamus, Dec 19 2007]
(??) Glowing kittens
http://news.yahoo.c...loning_071212210021
Bacteria shouldn't be that tough. [gisho, Dec 21 2007]
florescence in beverages
http://chemistry.ab...the-dark-drinks.htm
Absinthe mentioned [dentworth, Dec 21 2007]
Bioluminescence
http://www.answers....nescence?cat=health
[quantum_flux, Dec 28 2007]
Bioluminescence (Molecule and Reactions)
http://www.answers....ciferase?cat=health
[quantum_flux, Dec 28 2007]
GM Glowing Tobacco Plant
http://www.answers....g-tobacco-plant-jpg
[quantum_flux, Dec 28 2007]
[link]
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[+] you could make money off of this thing [MaxwellBuchanan]... the tequila worm people will probably be the first to try out your glow wine. |
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I was attacked by the Tequila Worm People in a nightmare... |
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//I have a bottle of champagne style plonk in the fridge, but it's sparkled with 24K gold leaf//
Sounds like a nightmare if you've got old-fashioned amalgam fillings. |
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Pretty darned close to magic genetic engineering. But + for the nice pun "sin 'til late" = scintillate. |
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Very nice. But sp. "'till'". |
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//Very nice. But sp. "'till'".// No, sp. " 'til"
(contraction of "until"). Till is a verb
meaning to plough, or a device for
handling cash transactions. |
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//Pretty darned close to magic genetic
engineering.// Wellllllll, OK. Though
to be fair, I did suggest selective
breeding, and it's fairly plausible.
Perhaps. |
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Incidentally, that raises the question of
whether all GM ideas should be
considered magic. If you suggest
creating a chicken/spider hybrid to
provide more drumsticks, that would
indeed be magic. On the other hand, if
you propose to engineer more essential
amino acids into wheat gluten, that's as
reasonable a proposal as any
mechanical invention. Just curious as to
where the "magic" threshold lies in
relation to GM. |
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I try to only sin 'til eight. Kids and all... |
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(I also try to only split infinitives where necessary for the pun of it) |
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//I have corrected people concerning
the '
'til/till ' question for years.// That's a
pity,
because it's actually " 'til". I appreciate
that Google may be the ultimate arbiter
on
many topics, but the OED disagrees on
this
point. Webster accepts "till" in the
sense of "until", but Webster accepts
many strange things. I'll stick with
English usage 'til someone can convince
me otherwise - it's that simple. |
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Perhaps all the Googly instances of "till"
are from people whom you have
erroneously corrected over the years? |
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//Incidentally, that raises the question of whether all GM ideas should be considered magic.// |
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Of course. We're magical types here at the General. |
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PRESTO! Ooh there's another car... |
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[linky] Making an organism glow actually isn't that hard. If we can find something that thrives in wine without ruining the taste, a glowing version should be easy. |
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[jscott] ...in which case, you've
corrected many people unnecessarily
"for years". In the UK, "till" would be
corrected to " 'til" by any copy-editor.
In the US, they'd presumably be happy
with either. |
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[gisho] The aim is not so much to make
the drink just glow, but to sparkle when
disturbed (for example, by bubbles or
by being drawn through a straw). For
this, you want mechanosensing
bioluminescent beasts, such as many
marine biolominescent microbes. |
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////specific species //
That caused some sort of atavistic
twitch, deep in my grey matter// |
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Quite. And if one had a group of very
unpreposessing creatures - perhaps a
number of related species of mundane
mouse - would they constitute a sort of
generic genus? Incidentally, my favourite
genus is a group of sea-slugs called
Cafeteria. |
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The genus Cafeteria got its name through
some problem with Greek/Latin. It was
meant to be Kafeteria, but for some reason
that's not allowed, so it became Cafeteria.
There's also a genus of orchid
called Hysteria. |
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You'd trust the word of a man who named
a genus "Cafeteria"? |
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// Did I do a bad thing // |
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Yes, but only in a Biblical sense .... |
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Maybe you coveted your neighbor's house? |
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[UB] please, go easy on the eyelash
fluttering. It makes me nervous.
Appreciated. |
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//I think this can work// Possibly so, but I
refuse to delete it unless you can _prove_
it's a workable idea. |
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I don't think there's an m-f-d tag for "possibly might actually work"... |
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Well you're GM'ing the stuff, could you not do something to the little critters to help prevent a hangover? [+] |
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We're not actually GMing anything, but
we'll see what we can do. |
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//Well you're GM'ing the stuff, could you not do something to the little critters to help prevent a hangover?// |
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Since you're going to drink 'em, they'll have bigger problems. |
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[Loris] If they can handle the relatively high ethanol
concentration in wine, they might be hardy enough to
survive your guts. Resulting in glowing stools. |
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//they might be hardy enough to survive your guts. Resulting in glowing stools// |
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This assumes successful passage right through the canal. What's to say the microbes won't be digested and their luminescence affect the drinker. That cartoon of the drunk with the glowing red nose might take on a whole new significance. Cops might derive an alternative to the breathalyser based on measuring the luminosity of the driver's nose. |
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may call for a quantum dot embedded wine glass. |
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// Resulting in glowing stools. // |
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I think there's a pub around here somewhere that had glowing
stools back in the 80s. |
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mouseposture, just because an organism is resistant to alcohol doesn't mean that it will also be resistant to the acidic environment of the stomach. Thus, no glowing poop under ordinary circumstances. On the other hand, if you drink the stuff along with some antacid... |
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Before I forget, [+], although I think I'd like this in a non-alcoholic version, too. |
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[goldbb] //acidic environment of the stomach// Oh, you
spoilsport. Won't you let me have my glowing poop joke? |
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