silly string
CARMEN DRAHL · Chemical & Engineering News · 2009
IT WAS, PERHAPS, an unintended consequence of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that a children’s toy should get an image makeover. Once the domain of Halloween hooligans plastering innocent mailboxes and car windshields, the sticky ribbons known by the trademarked name Silly String got a new reputation as a weapon for heroes confronting a serious kind of terror. U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams, who defuse and dispose of explosives, have been using Silly String to find booby traps since 1997 in Bosnia, says G. J., a Navy Master Explosive Ordnance Technician who most recently served in Afghanistan. “By spraying it in front of your intended path in confined spaces, in the threshold of a doorway, or at the gate outside a compound, you can detect trip wires or other hazards,” he says. In 2006, Army mom Marcelle Shriver heard a similar story from her son and organized a massive donation of sprayable ...