Topic

Military Technology & Strategy

A collection of 30 issues

An Onion for Uncle Sam: The Unlikely Naval Project That Built the Anonymous Internet

To protect its spies online, the U.S. Navy created a powerful anonymizing tool. The only problem? A network of only spies is easy to spot. Their radical solution was to release it to the world, creating the foundation for the anonymous web we know today.

Technology & Innovation Military Technology & Strategy Media & Censorship

The Unidentified Truth: The Pentagon's Mission to Solve Its UFO Problem

The Pentagon has a UFO office, but its real mission isn't chasing aliens. Established in 2022, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) is a data-driven agency built to replace decades of secrecy with systematic analysis of national security threats.

Military Technology & Strategy Politics & Power Mysteries & Unsolved Cases

One Switch from Oblivion: The Terrifying Genius of Nuclear Failsafes

A nuclear bomb isn't a stick of dynamite. It's a delicate puzzle that requires a perfect, synchronized implosion to work. Hitting it with a bullet or dropping it from a plane only breaks the puzzle, scattering radioactive parts but preventing a nuclear blast.

Military Technology & Strategy History Science & Nature

Perfectly Safe: The Volunteers Who Stood Directly Beneath a Nuclear Detonation

On a Nevada morning in 1957, five Air Force officers and a cameraman stared up at the sky as a nuclear missile detonated directly above them. This wasn't a mistake; it was a calculated experiment to prove that atomic warfare could be perfectly safe.

History Military Technology & Strategy Oddities & Curiosities

That Time the U.S. Air Force Built a Ring of Needles Around the Earth

Fearing Soviet sabotage of undersea cables, the U.S. military launched 480 million copper needles into orbit to create a radio-reflecting ring around the planet—a brilliant Cold War solution with a lingering legacy as the ancestor of modern space junk.

Military Technology & Strategy Space & Astronomy History

The Day the Sun Almost Started World War III

At the height of the Cold War, U.S. early-warning radars suddenly went blind, an act military commanders assumed was Soviet aggression. As nuclear bombers prepared for takeoff, a small team of solar forecasters raced to prove the real culprit was an unprecedented solar storm.

History Military Technology & Strategy Space & Astronomy

The Feathered Phalanx: When the Australian Army Declared War on Emus and Lost

Facing economic ruin from 20,000 crop-destroying emus, Australian farmers in 1932 called in the army. The result was a military operation so inept and a foe so unexpectedly resilient that it became a national laughingstock and a victory for the birds.

History Military Technology & Strategy Oddities & Curiosities

Project Chariot: The Atomic Plan to Remake Alaska and the People Who Stopped It

In 1958, the U.S. government's Operation Plowshare proposed Project Chariot: a plan to detonate thermonuclear bombs to create a harbor in Alaska. The project faced fierce opposition from scientists and local Iñupiat communities who exposed its devastating risks.

History Military Technology & Strategy Environment & Climate

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