This morning we went to the open house at the Moss Landing Marine Labs. As we wandered through the labs, D spied ice cream in the Phycology Lab . One of the students was scooping it. But before he handed over the cones, he asked: Do you know why we're serving ice cream in the Phycology Lab? D didn't miss a beat. "Ice cream has seaweed in it!" He got his scoop. It wasn't seaweed flavored...but it did have seaweed in it. Carrageenan, derived from an edible red seaweed, is widely used in the food industry, for its gelling, thickening, and stabilizing properties. It is a vegetarian and vegan alternative to gelatin in some recipes.