1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,519 --> 00:00:09,039 Speaker 1: brain Stuff. I'm more in vogel Bomb and today's episode 3 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:12,039 Speaker 1: is a classic from our archives. I was thinking about 4 00:00:12,039 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: this one after we had a particularly warm weekend here 5 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:18,599 Speaker 1: in Atlanta. A team of researchers and chefs in Japan 6 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:22,960 Speaker 1: developed an ice cream that doesn't melt. Here's how it works, 7 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:28,280 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren vogel Bomb. Here admit it. Even 8 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: the most open minded among us have preconceived notions about 9 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: ice cream by virtue of the fact that it's basically 10 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: flavored sweetened milk that's frozen. Certain properties are necessarily associated 11 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: with it. For instance, it melts when you're eating it 12 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: on a hot day. It's also very difficult to light 13 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:49,599 Speaker 1: on fire. But the days of such predictable, old fashioned 14 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,839 Speaker 1: frozen treats are over. A team of Japanese scientists has 15 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: developed a soft serve ice cream that won't turn to 16 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:58,520 Speaker 1: milk soup, even after hours in the heat. And it's 17 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: not because it contains the usual thickening suspects like diglycerides, 18 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: kara gene in or polyscorbit eighty. It's basically just regular 19 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 1: ice cream with one small modification. The story of how 20 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: we got to flammable ice cream is pretty good. It 21 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:17,720 Speaker 1: starts with a strawberry accident. After the earthquake and tsunami 22 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: ravage Japan. It's the one that caused the meltdown of 23 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 1: the reactors at the Hookushima Nuclear Power Plant. A Japanese 24 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:26,360 Speaker 1: chef was tasked with figuring out what to do with 25 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: strawberry polyphenol, a compound extracted from strawberries. It all started 26 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:34,920 Speaker 1: when nobody was buying a whole bunch of deformed strawberries 27 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: grown in an area affected by the earthquake because they 28 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: just weren't shaped quite right. Researchers at Japan's Biotherapy Development 29 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: Research Center wondered if instead of wasting all that fruit, 30 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: something could be done with the polyphenol inside of it. 31 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: They asked a pastry chef to create a dessert with it. 32 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: The experiment went okay, but the problem was every time 33 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 1: he added the compound to cream, it hardened right up. 34 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 1: Baha lightbulb invent to, a professor emeritus of pharmacy at 35 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 1: Kanazawa University, told Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun. Polypheno liquid 36 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: has properties to make it difficult for water and oil 37 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: to separate so that a popsicle containing it will be 38 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: able to retain the original shape of the cream for 39 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:18,360 Speaker 1: a longer time than usual and be hard to melt. 40 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: With this realization, Odah and his research team developed Kanazawa 41 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: Ice popsicles, which hits stores in Japan last summer. They 42 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 1: hold their shape through all sorts of treatment that traditional 43 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:31,839 Speaker 1: popsicles can't withstand, from hot sun to hair dryers. Now, 44 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: Kanazawa Ice offers soft serve ice cream, which can reportedly 45 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:37,919 Speaker 1: be caught on fire without melting, and can keep its 46 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: shape at temperatures of a hundred and four degrees fahrenheit, 47 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:43,400 Speaker 1: which is forty degrees celsius. I want to get your 48 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: paws on some flammable ice cream, Well, you're just going 49 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:48,440 Speaker 1: to have to travel to Japan if you're not already there. 50 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:56,919 Speaker 1: Japan has no plans to export it just yet. Today's 51 00:02:56,919 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: episode was written by Jesslin Shields and produced by Tristan 52 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:02,079 Speaker 1: McNeil and Eiler Klaang. For more on this lots of 53 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: other topics, visit how stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff is 54 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio. Or more podcasts my heart 55 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: Radio visit the i heart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or 56 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.