/ By Chris Nolan
comments_image -

Silly String saving lives in Iraq

Party product delivers low-tech booby trap detection.
December 7, 2006  |  
 
Advertisement
 

The Freakonomics Blog explains why a mother is sending Silly String to her son in Iraq:

Because [Silly String] might be a lifesaver: a soldier can spray the Silly String to look for trip wires around bombs. According to this A.P. article, “Before entering a building, troops squirt the plastic goo, which can shoot strands about 10 to 12 feet, across the room. If it falls to the ground, no trip wires. If it hangs in the air, they know they have a problem. The wires are otherwise nearly invisible.”
Silly String is not standard issue yet. So families and Silly String manufacturers are teaming up to supply the troops. The product has to be specially shipped to Iraq because the cans are pressurized.

[Freakonomics]

Lindsay Beyerstein a New York writer blogging at Majikthise.
  • 1
View as a single page
 

submit to reddit
Party product delivers low-tech booby trap detection.

-
Email
Print
Share
LIKED THIS ARTICLE? JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST
Stay up to date with the latest AlterNet headlines via email
See more stories tagged with: iraq, bomb, silly string

Why Was No One Punished for America's "My Lai" in Iraq?

Runaway Greed Is Destroying America: Should There Be a Lid on How Much Someone Can Make?

  •  

Conservatism Thrives on Low Intelligence and Poor Information

Have Bees Become Canaries In the Coal Mine? Why Massive Bee Dieoffs May Be a Warning About Our Own Health

Why Novelist Elinor Lipman is Tweeting a Political Poem a Day Until the Election

Spitzer: All the Right Reasons for Raising Capital Gains Taxes

  •  

Occupy vs. Monsanto: Activists, Farmers Fight the Corporation They Fear Will Take Over All America's Crops

My Journey from Iraq to Working on Wall Street to Occupying Wall Street

  •  

Why MIA Was Right to Give America the Finger at the Super Bowl

  •  

5 Right-Wing Governors Gutting Schools to Fund Prisons, Tax Breaks for the Rich...And a Bible Theme Park

Why Going 'Back To Normal' Is No Longer An Option for the American Economy -- And Where We're Headed Now

Telecom Rip-Off: The Hidden Fees in Your Wireless and Phone Bills

Charles Murray's New Book 'Coming Apart' Shamelessly Blames the Victims of Our Economic Collapse

At CPAC, Santorum Surges Despite Idiotic Claims; Romney Poses as 'Severe' Conservative; Gingrich Makes War on GOP

Truffles from Posh Chocolat

The Dark Side of Chocolate: What Our Love Affair With Cocoa Means for the World

The New Culture War: How Right-Wing Politicos Scare Their Constituents to Death

Black Power Mixtape: The Civil Rights Battle Ignored by the U.S. Media

  •  

Sunday is Darwin Day. How Will You Celebrate It?

  •  

Romney's Anti-Immigrant Stance Could Destroy the Nation's Economy

Alternet Special Coverage - Occupy Wall Street
Advertisement
Most Read
Most Emailed
Most Discussed
On REDDIT
On DIGG
 
loading most read content ..
Advertisement
Occupy Protesters Mic-Check Palin During CPAC Speech

By Adele M. Stan | AlterNet

 
 
Apple, Accustomed to Profits and Praise, Faces Outcry for Labor Practices at Chinese Factories

By Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez | Democracy Now!

 
 
Could Santorum Actually Beat Romney? And Would the Obama Campaign be Ready?

By Steve M. | Booman Tribune

 
 
Bill Moyers: The Economy Has Been Engineered to Screw Over Millennials (With an AlterNet Shoutout!)

By Staff | AlterNet

 
 
Maher: Conservatives Are the Ones Dividing the Country

By Sarah Seltzer | AlterNet

 
 
In Kansas, Is Catholic Church Trying to Destroy A Victim's Advocates Organization?

By Julie Cain | Ms. Magazine Blog

 
 
Obama vs. the Concern Trolls on Nonsense "Religious Liberty" Issue

By Digby | Hullabaloo

 
 
At CPAC, Santorum Surges Despite Idiotic Claims; Romney Poses as 'Severe' Conservative; Gingrich Makes War on GOP

By Adele M. Stan | AlterNet

 
 
Wisconsin's Gov. Walker Appeals to CPAC Crowd for Help Fending Off Recall

By Adele M. Stan | AlterNet

 
 
In Birth Control Debate, Cable News Disproportionately Asked Men What They Thought of Women's Health

By Faiz Shakir and Adam Peck | Think Progress

 
MORE
 
 
Robert Greenwald
 
Russ Baker, WhoWhatWhy.com
 
jeffbiggers
 
Reverend Billy Talen
 
RH Reality Check
 
RH Reality Check
 
Robert Greenwald
 
RH Reality Check
 
Leo Gerard
 
RH Reality Check
 
MORE
 
 
loading ...
POWERED BY DIGG'S USERS
ABOUT DIGG
 
[ page served from web 1 ]