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Here’s a new twist on instant-win lottery competitions (GB 2353935). Instead
of selling scratch cards, lottery operators will sell special drinking straws.
The straws are made of polypropylene, impregnated with stripes of coloured dye.
The stripes on the lucky straws are covered with a clear resin which changes
colour when cooled. When you suck on a cold drink through the lucky straws they
change to show red and white stripes, but ordinary ones don’t change colour. The
winning straws also react to ultraviolet light, says inventor B&H Liquid
Crystal Devices of London, so that lottery agents can authenticate claims
without having to drink through the used straw.