Brain Fuel

So, I'm sitting in an airplane, 30,000 ft in the air - halfway to New York. It's kinda bumpy. And I'm kinda sleepy.

I started reading Dr. Schwarcz's new book "Brain Fuel" and was initially a little bored because it just kept talking about old stuff. Then I turned to the back and started making my way to the beginning, and that's when things got interesting.(For those of you who don't know Dr. Schwarcz is the head of the Office of Science and Society at Mcgill, teaches a bunch of World of Chemistry classes, and has a weekly column in the Montreal Gazette, as well as a radio show in Montreal and Toronto. He's kinda awesome.)
In any case I learned the following things:

1. In the 1940's cellophane was named the third most beautiful word in the english language - after memory and mother.
2. Houdini thought that he could escape death - and left his wife a secret code before he died, and told her that he would try to get it to her after he died. He failed. She gave up after ten years.
3. There is a chewing gum called "bust up" that can apparently increase your bust size if you chew it, because it contains chemicals that can up the estrogen level in your body.
4. There is a US patent for a toy rocket that can be fueled by farts. There is no evidence as to whether this would work or not, but the only requirement for having a patent is that the idea is novel. In reality farts don't have enough combustible gases to fuel a rocket. Also, Dr. Schwarcz calls it an "anal rocket". I think that's hilarious.
5. The US military uses silly string to detect trip wires for explosives in Iraq. Since the silly strings is very light, it can show trip wires without setting them off. That's pretty ingenious.
6. Glass does not constantly flow. At least not unless you're at a minimum heat of 350 degrees celsius. The common misconception is due to the fact that old window panes are thicker at the bottom and have ripples. The reason for this is when flattening glass while blowing it, the glass would get a rippled effect, and the outside would be thicker. It made more sense structurally to put the thick part at the bottom.

EDIT: ZOMG! THE BLOGGER BAR IN DUBAI IS IN ARABIC! WHAAT?!