Edible glass

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You can make edible glass at home. Here is how.

What You Need
Butter
Baking sheet
One cup sugar
Heavy stainless steel or nonstick frying pan
Large wooden spoon

What to Do
Butter the baking sheet, and place it in the refrigerator. Put the sugar in the frying pan. With adult supervision, set the pan on a burner at low heat. Stir the sugar slowly as it heats up. The sugar will slowly turn tan, stick together in clumps, and begin melting into a pale brown liquid. Continue stirring until the sugar melts into a thick brown liquid. Pour the brown liquid into the cold baking sheet. Let cool.

What Happens
The melted sugar hardens into a sheet of edible sugar glass.

Why It Works
Sugar is made of crystals, just like glass, which is made from sand.

Bizarre Facts
- Most glass is made from a mixture of silicon dioxide (the main ingredient in sand), soda (sodium oxide), and lime (calcium oxide).
- Silicon dioxide is one of the most inexpensive, most plentiful materials on earth.
Fiber optic cable is made from glass and carries far more information than the same size wire cable.
- Fake glass windows and fake glass bottles broken over the heads of movie stars in Hollywood films were originally made from sugar. Today, they are made from a special resin.
- Glass can be made more fragile than paper or stronger than steel.
- Butter was probably discovered by accident. When milk is transported in containers, the agitation naturally makes the cream congeal.

Mr. Eat-It-All
Gastroenterologists have confirmed that Michael Lotito of Grenoble, France, has the uncanny ability to eat and digest glass and metal. Since 1966, Lotito has eaten seven television sets, six chandeliers, a computer, ten bicycles, a supermarket cart, a Cessna aircraft, and a coffin. He has been nicknamed Monsieur Mangetout—French for Mr. Eat-It-All.