According to Guinness World Records, the 973 Mentos-powered soda geysers launched at Arena Park in Cape Girardeau, Missouri is an official new record. Jason Lindsey from KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau shared his goal with us for setting a new world record back in August and needed just a few Geyser Tubes and Mentos® chewy mints to make it happen. "Contributing the materials was the easy part. Our hats are off to the team at KFVS-TV and Jason for setting the record and convincing 1,000 people to show and and get wet," says Carly Reed from Steve Spangler Science.

Whenever a big geyser launch like this one makes the press, there's no end to the number of people who complain that this is a huge waste of candy and soda. Let me respond by saying this… YOU COMPLETELY MISSED THE POINT! The goal is to get people of all ages engaged in doing a science activity, thinking about the science behind the reaction, testing a variation on the reaction, and ultimately sharing their excitement about doing a science experiment. Honestly, name another time or event when a thousand people got this excited about doing a simple science experiment!

For the cost of a bottle of soda and a roll of chewy mints, a teacher just might pique a kid's curiosity and get them to show more interest in science. Who knows? Ask any teacher what kind of price tag he or she would put on that kind of motivation.

Your thoughts? 

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The last time I did the weather report on 9News, the switchboard lit up with confused viewers. I neglected to mention that the snow was faux snow… created by mixing water with Insta Snow. The request to do the Insta Snow demonstration came from a viewer who wanted to cover her lawn in fake snow. Is it possible? Sure… anything is possible, but the average person would probably be happy playing with a few gallons in a big container. If you're unfamiliar with Insta Snow, it's an amazing superabsorbent polymer that turns ordinary water into a white fluffy substance that looks like real snow. Add a little water and this fine white powder quickly absorbs the water and expands to 100 times its original size. One of the coolest things to do with Insta Snow is to let the snow dehydrate and watch as the fluffy powders returns to its original size and consistency… and you're ready to do it again.

Here are the most commonly asked questions about Insta Snow… 

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