Lighting the candles on birthday cakes is about to get a whole lot more fun. Christian Myerchin of Bothell, Washington, has come up with a way of getting every candle on the cake to light at the same time, to avoid some of them melting onto the the icing while others are being lit (US 6186776).
Small pyrotechnic pads made of nitrocellulose, magnesium wire and sticky wax are pressed over the wicks of the candles. A fuse comprising a length of fast-burning nitrocellulose string is then threaded through holes in the pads. All you have to do is light…
