Army builds a
friendlier bullet

The Army has developed a new bullet that's just as deadly but is friendlier to the environment.

Instead of lead, the new "green" bullet is made of tungsten mixed with either tin or nylon. Getting the lead out, the Army says, makes the bullet less likely to pollute soil and ground water. Contamination from lead bullets could be a problem seeing as how 200 million bullets a year are fired in training. The new bullets are also more accurate than the old lead standbys.

The Army says soldiers won't notice a difference when they fire the bullets. It's unlikely that anyone shot with them will either. So now we live in a world where a bullet may kill you in the short term, but in the long term it will be safer for the environment.

The incongruity boggles the mind.

--Cynthia Oi

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