Radar
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How the high-tech \\u2018death ray\\u2019 led to the invention of radar. The story begins in the 1930s, when British Air Ministry officials were worried about falling behind Nazi Germany in the technological arms race. They correctly predicted that the next war would be dominated by air power. To address the problem, Britain launched a number of projects in hopes of mitigating the threat \\u2014 including a prize for developing a high-tech \\u2018death ray\\u2019 that could zap a sheep at a hundred paces. But even though the project failed to develop such a weapon, it did result in something potentially far more useful that was able to detect planes and submarines \\u2013 radar. And it was an invention that was crucial in the development of the commercial aviation industry.
Producer: Ben Crighton\\nEditors: Richard Knight and Richard Vadon
(Image: Abstract radar with targets, Credit: Andrey VP/Shutterstock)
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