Inventor of clumping cat litter, William Mallow, dead at 72.
Posted by STrRedWolf on Sat 3 Aug 2002 - 23:11
Polymer chemist William Mallow, inventor of clumping cat litter and co-developer of Liquid Paper, artificially aged Scotch whiskey, and Disney robot dinosaur skin, died Thurdsay at the age 72 in San Antonio. More info via Reuters/Excite
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The article mentions several of his other inventions. The last one mentioned, a slippery gel called Mobility Denial System, brought two thoughts to mind. The first is that it's just like the Department of Defense to come up with a name like that for something that could easily be described in more ordinary terms. The second was to wonder how many people would immediately think of certain other uses for the gel besides those mentioned in the article.
The first is that it's just like the Department of Defense to come up with a name like that for something that could easily be described in more ordinary terms.
http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/article.cfm?Id=745
Well, the rationale is that if you were to have to say "Hey joe, quick, gimme that slippery stuff in a can, you know the stuff... no, not the goose grease... that other stuff ... you know the gel stuff..." You'd probably be run over or over run. Whereas if you yell, "Joe! M.D.S.! Here! Now!" it's pretty clear what you need and when you need it. But acronyms can be confusing to the uninformed (aka civilian public.) But, I'm sure the inventor probably still enjoyed seeing Marines playing on a skating rink in the middle of July over hot asphalt.
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