This is one dessert we guarantee you won’t think is too filling: a meringue that’s just about the lightest dessert ever made?
It’s hard to make meringue that isn’t light, of course.
The traditional recipe is egg whites and sugar, mixed together and then beaten until there’s enough air in the mixture to make it fluffy.
But this dessert is light even for meringue. It’s based on a substance called Aerogel, which was created about 90 years ago.
Aerogel is the lightest solid in the world. Imagine a regular gel but with all the water inside replaced with air.
A group of dessert-loving scientists decided to model their meringue on this ultralight substance.
They made a meringue gel and put it into molds, but then replaced all the liquid in there with liquid carbon dioxide. Then they used a process called super-critical drying to make that liquid carbon dioxide solid.
The Aerogel-style meringue is 96 percent air. A serving weighs just one gram.
Unlike most meringues, this one is really, solid. Not wiggly or fluffy, just solid. You can break pieces off and eat them.
But if you’re looking for a light dessert after dinner, this one’s about as light as it’s gonna get.
We move from light desserts to actual light, as produced by the larvae of a Brazilian fungus gnat.
There are quite a few bioluminescent creatures that live in this area of the world, but this one’s different.
The others put out green, yellow or red light. This one has BLUE light. Which is handy if they ever decide to throw a really tiny concert over there.
Shine on, you crazy fungus gnat.
World’s Lightest Dessert Is 96 Percent Air, Weighs Just One Gram (Oddity Central)
First South American insect that emits blue light is discovered (Eurekalert!)
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Photo by Alan via Flickr/Creative Commons
