One thousand cans of the neon-coloured plastic goo known as Silly String have been packed off to Iraq to help save the lives of US troops.

Despite living in an age of big-budget high-tech weapons systems, cans of the stuff - previously the preserve of kids' parties - are making a genuine difference.

US troops in the Gulf regularly use the "string" to detect trip wires around bombs, as Marcelle Shriver learned from her son, who is a soldier there.

Neat.