Article: Building A Better Bubble: CHEMICAL BURNS, RUINED CLOTHES, 11 YEARS, HALF A MILLION DOLLARS--IT'S NOT EASY TO IMPROVE ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST POPULAR TOYS. YET THE SUCCESS OF ONE INVENTOR'S QUEST TO DYE A SOAP BUBBLE MAY CHANGE THE WAY THE WORLD USES COLOR.(Best Of What's New 2005/POPSCI Innovator)(Profile)

Byline: Mike Haney

Tim Kehoe has stained the whites of his eyes deep blue. He's also stained his face, his car, several bathtubs and a few dozen children. He's had to evacuate his family because he filled the house with noxious fumes. He's ruined every kitchen he's ever had. Kehoe, a 35-year-old toy inventor from St. Paul, Minnesota, has done all this in an effort to make real an idea he had more than 10 years ago, one he's been told repeatedly cannot be realized: a colored bubble.

No, not the shimmering rainbow effect you see when the light catches a clear soap bubble. Kehoe's bubble would radiate a single, vibrant hue throughout the entire sphere--a ...

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