This past month was the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show. This year’s theme was “The Minerals of the Mid West.” The show displayed many beautiful gems and minerals including geodes, calcites, turquoise, fluorite, wulfenite, and more. You haven’t herd of wulfenite? Nether had I until I found out that there Is a house bill to make wulfenite the state mineral of Arizona. If the bill passes Arizona school children will all know what wulfenite is.

National Gumdrop Day was on Feb.15. Gumdrops are a chewy candy that are madde with gelatin and sugar coated. The origin of the gumdrop is a mystery, but legend has it that the gumdrop was created in 1801. Percy S. Truesdell, chemist and candy manufacturer, gets credit for making the first gumdrop, according to National Day calendar. He was known as the gumdrop king.

Scientists are developing toilets that do not use water. Water is a limited resource, but each year 1.5 trillion gallons of clean drinking water are flushed down toilets in the United States.

Three promising types of waterless toilets are solar toilets, composting toilets, and bio-toilets. Each of these toilets recycle human waste into something useable.

Solar toilets burn up waste using the energy of the sun. Waste is cooked until it becomes a charcoal-like substance called “bio char,” which can be used as fertilizer.