Unsavory as it may sound, designers of something called the Zilopop claim to have found a cure for bad breath in a stainless steel lollipop.
The makers of the Zilopop Stainless Steel Lollipop, made in Germany and marketed in the USA by a company called Zielonka, say that the small metal disk on a stick will eliminate bad breath upon contact with your saliva.
But how does it work? It is known that smelly sulfur molecules, present in certain foods like fish, onion and garlic, bind with stainless steel, neutralizing the foul-smelling molecules. Stainless steel is also shown to have some antibacterial properties. Zielonka says that the Zilopop and other products created with its stainless steel "Smellkiller" technology can actually combat a whole range of odors, from smelly feet to cigarette smoke.
Just make sure you really want one before you order it. The website warns, "Due to reasons of hygiene, we are unable to exchange this product!"
Click here to see pictures of the pop and to order it in a wide range of colors: http://www.zielonka-shop.com/us/index.php/cat/c42_zilopop.html
Four-thousand pounds of contraband destroyed at ArcelorMittal mill
Last week, the Ohio State Highway Patrol used the ArcelorMittal plant in Cleveland for a special purpose - burning $6 million worth of contraband.
Over 4,000 pounds of contraband, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin and 59 guns, were melted in the steelmaker's furnace last Thursday as part of the Patrol's efforts to keep these confiscated pieces of evidence off the streets.
A little-known fact is that the Patrol burns confiscated drugs and guns at different steel mills across Ohio four times per year. The contraband is kept in a room in Columbus until the criminal cases are resolved and the evidence is no longer needed.
Here's how it happens: After the 24-ft long truck full of guns and drugs is transfered to the melting site -- the location of which only two of the six bulletproof vest-clad members on the Highway Patrol's Special Response Team are informed of ahead of time, due to security reasons -- hundreds of tons of molten iron are poured into an iron ladle. Once the temperature reaches a blazing 3,500 degrees, troopers toss the boxes of guns and drugs into the molten iron, melting the guns in no time, and incinerating the drugs on contact.
Sgt. D.J. Smith told press, that the destruction of these items brings him great joy. "They won't be back on the streets or in schools," he said.
Claymont residents fed up with Claymont Steel's "black snow"
Residents in Claymont, Deleware living near the Claymont Steel mill are so fed up with the black dust that coats the town every night that they have formed the Claymont Dust Study, an panel determined to find out exactly what this strange substance is and how harmful it may be.
In 2005, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) confirmed what many locals already suspected - Claymont Steel is the source of the dust.
While DNREC claims that the dust, which has irked residents for years by coating their cars and homes daily, is not a health hazard because the metal particles are too big to get stuck in the lungs, the community is still not happy about the metal flecks that fall like "black snow" from the sky, eating through the paint on their cars.
James Werner, director of Air and Waste Management at the DNREC told press, "It doesn't matter that it's not a health concern. The issue is whether it's causing a nuisance in the neighborhoods. There's still a serious problem."
The committee plans to hire Global Community Monitoring, an environmental advocacy organization based in San Francisco, to provide dust monitors that residents can place on their roofs.
In the meantime, a public meeting with Claymont Steel will be held at Claymont Community Center at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
West Virginians to leap off steel bridge to celebrate local holiday
This Saturday, nearly a quarter of a million people will be in Charleston, West Virginia to celebrate "Bridge Day" by leaping from the New River Gorge Bridge, the world's longest single arch steel span at the time it was built in 1977.
It may sound crazy to the uninitiated, but every third Saturday in October since 1980 when Bridge Day was declared an official holiday, locals and visitors from around the world celebrate the structure, some by walking across the span and some by parachuting from it, 876 feet down to the river below.
The entire four lanes of the bridge now are closed for Bridge Day to make room for the estimated 200,000 people who attend Bridge Day every year.
Bridge Day now includes a wide variety of activities, including parachuting and rappelling. Last year, 450 jumpers registered but 388 showed up and made 804 jumps. This year, jump coordinator Jason Bell told press that 450 jumpers from 10 countries have registered.
The free event will take place from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.