Science and Technology at War Flashcards
Importance of data transmission security today
e-commerce, e-payments and e-banking all hinge on data security
Example of a substitution cipher and its limitations
Caesars cipher. Only 25 possible combinations so someone can relatively easily try them all
Vigenere cipher
A substitution cipher but the number of shifts is changed.
Playfair cipher
Diagraph cipher. Replaces characters in pairs. Uses a keyword to decipher the message
Stencil cipher
The text is modified but still reads like a message. No actual enchiphering of the text
Enigma
An enciphering machine used by the Germans. Cracked using Turing’s Colossus
Trinity test
Test for the atomic bomb in New Mexico
Little Boy
First atomic bomb. Assembled in Tinian. Was dropped on Hiroshima after the torpedo of a US ship. Killed 45,000 and affected 19,000
Fat Man
Dropped on Nagasaki just 3 days after Hiroshima. Killed 40,000 instantly. Japan formally surrendered 5 days later
War photography
Mobile darkrooms on the front lines to document the war
Napalm
Invented 1942, creates its own wind systems which then fuel further burning. Designed as a weapon to cause fires
Dioxin
Leakage at an Italian chemical plant. A month later, 500 people were suffering from pustules and lesions.
Agent orange
A herbicide to destroy the rural landscape of Vietnam. Toxic for only a few days, but degraded to give dioxin. These dioxin levels varied from batch to batch and efforts were made to reduce the levels post 1966
Radar
Invented the cathode ray tube. Was asked if it was enough to take down aircraft, but then looked to see if it could detect it. First uses required huge base systems of antenna
Cavity Magnetron
small enough to be installed into aircraft. Needed a more practical solution to the radar at the time
Informed consent
Came about as a necessity following the Nuremberg trials. Its now an ethical and legal requirement for participants to be informed about all aspects of a trial
Brain Drain
The loss of a significant number of exceptional scientists in Germany as Jewish people and other minority groups fled with the rise of the Nazi party
Nylon discovery
Carothers helped identify polymers and other macromolecules. Made the first polyesters and produced nylon to replace silk stockings.
Nylon in war
Became the material for parachutes and ropes after Japanese silk was redirected. Resistant to sunlight, weathering, mould, insects and dried more quickly.
Great Pacific Garbage Patch
collection of marine debris in the north pacific
Cultivator 6
Trench digging machine
