Here's What's Awesome: Mine-Solving Bees, Metal-Detecting Sandals

We're on the verge of a major milestone! According to the Global Language Monitor, this week will mark the creation of the one millionth word in the English language. Yes, some word will join great creations like "pantleg," "Vanilli" and "chinderwear" in our rich and vibrant lexicon, to enrich us, to teach us, to be in the title of hilarious internet videos. They haven't actually chosen the millionth word, of course - it hasn't been invented yet - so let me coin a new word that will set the standard for the next million words: Hwawesome, adj., meaning something so beyond ordinary awesome that it may be featured on the Here's What's Awesome blog. Three examples of hwawesome are as follows:

Bee Mission, coming this summer to theaters everywhere
Uncle Sam wants bees - and bees have answered his call! Our flower-pollinating neighbors are taking a break from fighting crime to help detect and remove some of the innumerable landmines buried along borders and in war zones. How? Scientists can train bees to look for certain chemical trails - more consistently than dogs, say the researchers, and without the slobbering-on-you thing - and they essentially follow where the bees go. And here's the coolest part: the bees actually recruit other bees to help. Sleep better, America, knowing the bees are out there protecting you. [CleanTechnica]

One giant step for metal detecting
Metal Detector Sandals are, as you'd expect, sandals with detecting equipment built into the soles, which finally lets you search for coins and buried treasure without having to carry around a big ol' gadget. On the other hand, wandering around the beach with the sandals' big ol' battery pack tied to your leg may make the beach patrol wonder how you escaped home confinement. [Trendhunter]

If you try to claim ownership of my photos again I'LL KNOW!
Here's an alert system of a different kind, and one that's not combined with your footwear: TOSBack monitors the Terms of Service for a number of popular sites - the changes can be important, and after all, not every site asks for votes from its membership when it changes its terms, like Facebook does. [CNet]

Now it's your turn: share an awesome link - er, a hwawesome link - in the comments.

(Photo courtesy wolfpix via Flickr/Creative Commons)