Lasers can use a variety of materials to work, from crystals to jello. University of Michigan researchers just came up with a Gothic lasing medium: blood.
The team found that ICG [a dye] would not emit laser light by itself, but the dye will glow when mixed with blood as it binds to proteins in blood plasma, increasing its ability to amplify light. “Without blood, just ICG, it doesn’t work at all,” says Fan.
By placing this mixture in a small reflective cylinder and shooting it with a conventional laser, they were able to coax the blood to emit light.
That last sentence might be the best mad science/real life Gothic line of 2016.
Why on Earth would mad scientists come up with such a thing? There's actually a really impressive medical reason:
ICG accumulates in blood vessels, so areas of the body with large numbers of vessels, such as tumours, should glow much more brightly, says Fan. In a clinical setting, doctors could inject ICG and shine a normal laser at the skin, then check for a glow using an infrared camera.
That should also lead to some eerie effects. And some good art. It seems to build on the preexisting practice of blood irradiation therapy.
But wait, there's more:
Fan needs to test the laser in animal tissue, which means coming up with a way to introduce reflective cavities to the body. Gold nanoparticles could prove useful, he says.
Introducing reflective cavities into the human body... seeding human flesh with gold nanoparticles... Those two sentences are also good contenders for the best mad science/real life Gothic lines of 2016.
In the meantime, meditate on the phrase "blood laser". It should make for a splendid metal band name. Or "human blood laser", even better.
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