Gummi bear experiment tips

I’ve heard from a number of folks (including the Discovery Channel) who are having trouble replicating the experiments herein. Here are some pointers. Believe me, there is no Photoshop trickery involved — I haven’t the time or the ability to phony up such a picture!

> Use cool or cold water! Hot water will melt the Gummi bears immediately (producing the brown goo showin in experiment #2). Remember, Gummi bears are basically very dense Jell-O. The goal is to get the bear into as much of a Jell-O’ed state as possible.

> We are using “Trolli” brand bears. Other brands may behave differently.

> Wait. It will take a few hours before you see the initial swelling. You’ll have a well swollen bear if you wait overnight. After about 3 days, the bear starts to disintegrate.

> Plain water works best. We’ve tried other liquids, like tea and cold coffee, but nothing soaks into a Gummi as good as plain old water. (Hard or soft water may affect your results, however.)

> Have fun. Please folks, this is not serious stuff.