Transcript
This transcript is automatically generated so may contain errors.
Welcome to the curiosity of a charge.
Episode 27, her back in the studio. We did have a interview plan for this episode, but unfortunately this has to be delayed. So this is our filling episode instead and we are going to talk about some sort of crazy and unusual ideas for weapons.
I really want to glorify weapons. Do we know? Obviously, when they use in anger or for warfare, they can be really abhorrent.
Yeah, but they're just quite interesting and I like making models are so dear so they're cool to play around wit. Well, not the real thing.
Models and little bits like that I could play around with.
Yeah, exactly, there's something that seems to have caught the imagination of people since times immemorial, and there seems to be a natural human desire to compete and fight, doesn't there? And pretty windows, about your agent on there was the first Gulf War Operation Desert Storm. And that was kind of really exciting to watch on TV, even though.
Now I'm older and I can think about it at a deeper level. You realise that maybe it wasn't quite so nice as.
These tanks is rushing in, but there was actually a sticker album so you know you match attax. Yeah yeah basically.
Yeah yeah yeah, the inclusion of that was the desert Storm sticker album for me and I got. I completed it. I got every sticker for Dan as the only person school to do that.
Congrats.
I'm thankful that I've never had to experience War first hand, and I hope that you.
Never will tea. No. I I don't. I don't want to either.
But join times of conflict. Some people get the most ridiculous and crazy ideas for really stupid weapons, so we're looking at some of the most insane ones ever thought of. What motivated people to design such destructive ideas, desperation, psychotic tendencies maybe? Is it just a few individuals who lead this royal comfortable and we all guilty of wanting to be in control and to hold?
Power over our fellow man.
Dude.
I think for this episode we're going to need to use The Time Machine again, but little bit Rusty, so we might have to do some repairs.
That's a good idea actually, so we can actually travel back and see some of these weapons in use. Way back in ancient history. And I think maybe we should kind of compare weapons and see who can get the silliest.
Idea okay, then okay are.
You ready maybe we should rate them on silly scale.
Sounds like a good idea to me. So are you.
Ready, I'm ready. Let's go to battle over weapons, stupid weapons.
Do you mind if I?
Get first ladies first.
Oh, that's fighting talk.
So we're going to go back to fears after Alexander the Great died and his empire was fragmented and his generals fighting for dominance. Now, as you may know, Alexander's army, it was undefeated in battle and there were some of the finest soldiers of their age.
So how do you go about fighting against them?
Well, loose.
One of Alexander's generals, antagonists, who had actually served under Philip of Macedon, Stats Alexander's dad had a son called. Dimitrios had been on campaign with his father, but it wasn't exactly what you call an experienced leader and there's only age 22 when I'm taking us asked him to defend Syria for him.
It's a bit of a big.
Ask yes, that's against some of the other generals, and it didn't really start that well for him because he lost to Tommy in the Battle of Gaza.
And is also defeated when he tried to attack Babylon.
I'm not surprised.
But he was undeterred, and he actually started to gain some successes and victories. So this is like this, young lad is competence these very fearsome and successful generals. And he's doing his dad proud here. And I think big that he probably got a bit of a big head. And along with the big head he also got a very large attraction to massive weapons.
And one of those was a 55 metre long battering ram.
Why? How would that even work properly though?
Well, how many people do you think it would need to crew it or?
Move it 400.
Maybe?
1000 yeah, if a double what you said, but maybe if you're attacking the wolves of Babylon, that's the kind.
Of weapon you need I.
Guess so, but we're not actually here for that bathroom because it's not that big. It's not that impressive. There's something much better than that. Enter the helpless or the taker of cities.
Is a massive siege tower 20 metres wide and 40 tool and it was created for the siege of roads and wait 160 tonnes. Now what's a modern battle tank? Weigh roughly.
60 Ashton's so that's 100 more exactly.
That's over double the weight of a modern day battle tank.
And like a tank.
It was armoured, but it was actually a timber frame covered in iron plates. It maybe not quite as impressive as a as.
A tank or a battering?
Ram, but it's still pretty big well.
It's bigger than that, it's.
More impressive than that around.
My guess maybe you could mount the battering ramp on the bottom.
Of it, yeah.
They did have some battering Rams at the front. Now. Do you want to know about disarmament?
It had 282 kg catapults, 427 third round catapults, 1014 Kieron catapults and four dart throwers which wrote the top and they could kind of fire darts down at the people.
Defended the says it's like these heavy catapults and then some dart throwers.
And then measure the soldiers up there as well with the arrows and their Spears and allsorts of things attacking. Now the catapult themselves. They were protected behind a mechanically adjustable shutters.
Which aligned with the ball and seaweed. I think in little sacks or bags which would make them fire brief. Yeah, so it's pretty kind of clever bit of engineering, something that people would forget about is just how good engineers. Some of these ancient cultures were, yeah.
And inside there are multiple floors. Anna's that laser later soldiers in there as well. So they total crew for the helpless was about 3400. That included like the soldiers to go up. They not just operating it, yeah.
Even with eight, four and a half metre tool wheels, the monsters contraption made very, very slowly and was very vulnerable to attack. Just so heavy. Imagine leaving that.
I can't.
Actually, your last episode in auction after we'd recorded, I found another picture of a whole team of oxen pulling a windmill, and imagine something similar.
Here was quite funny.
So Demetris he planned on using his massive contraption to attack roads, but his attack wasn't actually successful, and a couple of different accounts of the failure, so I used my preferred one, which is told by Vitruvius.
And he was a ramen author, architect and engineer who said that the region's baked the agentis. He was also the architect afraid. So yes.
Diogenous
Diognetus Okay, he was the one the main architects of raids. You can understand why the Roman architect favoured this story and yeah, he was begged to find a way to capture the helpless and his plan was to make a hole in the wall in a channel through which they could fund a water and sewerage outside of the city.
So that would go into the lights, take into the ground, then when the masses tower came along to attack it, get bogged down another model.
That's quite clever. Also. Just remind me of when the Romans were attacking England. I think I told you this before. The land was really Moshi and hard to walkthrough so they decided to use stilts to get through it. Ohh yeah but then the Celts and tribes would just drop the stilts and we chop them up. I'm.
Imagine that the Legion's gang and I'm still that's quite funny, yeah?
Funny picture.
Yeah, so the massive tower got bogged down in the mud and it was abandoned. So what do you think happened to after that?
Was it but now he had to capture it?
I don't know.
Well, it was captured and they actually salvaged the metal and with all the materials and things they got so they could sell some. They come out more down and they used it to create the Colossus of Rhodes is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. There's a picture hidden or the winky on that statue.
Yes, this is a massive tiring statue over the entrance to raids. Some depiction shirt spanning the port the like the way into the harbour, but that's probably not true. I think after about 80 years it was destroyed by an earthquake. There were plans to rebuild it as well recently.
But this wasn't the end of Demetrius and his super weapons. He actually built another helpless.
For the seeds of thieves. On this one he mounted onto Quinta Rim warships.
There's a massive warships, quite funny.
So that's my first weapon. So how would you rate it on a scale of silliness? One to 10 maybe?
I would.
Probably only rate it like a four.
Yeah, it's not really that silly or crazy.
It's just large, isn't it?
Yeah, it's it's. I guess you could say it's a crazy idea and like just.
Unbelievably large.
Anyway, do you have any weapons? Then I'll let you take control of.
The time machines a couple.
Okay, then, let's head to World War Two, where we have the pigeon bomb and the bat bombs.
Okay.
So are these real pigeons and pets?
Yes, they're not toys. My first weapon is project pigeon.
This was a Bob with pigeons in the nose and he basically acted as pilots and guided the bomb to its target.
So I guess you could say they will miss ours like guided missiles.
Like the first time we actually pigeons and they got that magnetic kind of censoring their nose like homing pigeons that allows them to actually don't want him, pigeon certify them home.
Yeah, that's an interesting idea. Do you know if that was used or not?
Don't think it did. I think it was like became obsolete because knew or like electronic guidance systems.
Much better, more sensible, yeah.
They were homing but they didn't go home.
Next will go into the bath bombs which were bombs with lots of bats in and they had their two explosives connected to them and they would roost in the houses of Japan and find a place to kind of rest than the explosive swell explode and then blow up and destroyed the wooden houses and causing Inferno.
In the Japanese cities.
Yeah, so I've actually heard this one before and the plan would be you would have a bum full of bats and they have to be kept cool. I think so that he would remain asleep inside. The weapon itself would be dropped over a city in Japan. Was the plan. Yeah that sometimes they then reached in the houses and explode, which is kind of interesting idea. But actually when they tested this weapon, that's one of the ranges in America, the Bats flying back to the air base.
Weather testing on that she started reaching around the air base and causing destruction that so another best idea.
No, that's like the anti tank dogs so well get into later.
Yes they are not sure. Animals are particularly sensible mechanisms for weapon delivery then.
No, but as we can see here, humans aren't very reliable either because they are creating some really ridiculous things.
That's true, so should we relate these from sun? Let's write them together.
Yeah, fat bums and pigeon bombs. I think the bat bombs was actually not a bad idea.
But so I'm really going to give it to what you.
Think.
I call you would be.
More of a seven. I reckon that really.
Maybe I'm just thinking differently.
You're thinking outside the box.
But the pigeon bombs.
Was a little bit. I'm not sure what people were thinking, but I guess I guess if somebody started studied pigeons out no more so I'm going to give that A6 OK.
Yeah.
I am going to take control at The Time Machine again please.
Thank you.
And I think I'm going to head back to classical times again here for but a little bit later than Alexander the Great. I'm going to go to Rome.
In the time of Naray.
And this comes from the 12 Caesars by Gaius Tytania San. It's written in 121 CE and the book covers the life of Caesar and the 1st 11 Empress of Rome. Now near right, he's probably got a worse rap than he deserves because there's some sort of revisionist historians who are saying that maybe it wasn't quite as bad as has been made out.
And actually the 12 Caesars was one of those books. That kind of really black and his name. But one part of the histories never has an interesting plan to quell the rebellions in goal, and I'll let the man himself told the story. Okay, so got a video here.
Yeah, from the very very early cameras.
Yes.
You will be aware of the considerable unrest in.
Well, in a great many parts of your empire, perhaps you can share your intention.
Intentions intentions.
She mentions.
My beloved Seneca once told me.
But an emperor must rule his empire.
As the gods rule the world.
Fax
is my intention.
In three days.
I will set out for goal myself and confront our enemies. They will learn the error of their ways.
This will be a defining moment in Rome's new history of revolution, in the way Rome conducts its campaigns. I will quash my diluted enemy, not with the sword.
But with art.
My art.
I intend to sing to them.
Fast.
I'll stand on the battlefield.
And let their gaze fall apaan me.
And then.
I will simply.
Week
I'm done seeing how deeply they hurt me.
They will weep.
And in the morning I will stand before them again.
I will say.
And my voice.
Will reach inside.
Take hold of their hearts.
And actually I should get home and work on the song.
Psychological warfare. Maybe they will be effective.
Well, other weapons have proved it, so maybe not this version of it there.
Now Nero, he's not the last leader to sing, and here is the President of Turkmenistan, with his run sounding a little bit of a rap. So let's have a few seconds.
Of this charming yeah.
Smart and the help is inspiration makes body strong and showing all the nations gives you a joy and ray spirit. High Sports is the way to your healthy life.
George com.
John.
How is amazing?
Life is so wonderful any motherland by spending investing such minister.
So what do you think about Anton?
Zombie show me. I really liked it.
Yeah.
So an effective weapon may. Do you think to control the masses?
Maybe not now.
I'm not too sure about that one either, so I think actually you might still be winning with your animal based weapons at.
The moment but crazy crazy rating.
Eight. Yeah, I think there. Oh yeah, if you really did that so who knows if he did. But going out there to understand the goals. Maybe not the best idea. If you're a war with them, but.
Also possibly a brilliant idea because it might save you without bloodshed.
Okay, back into The Time Machine and we're going to head to the 1960s to Cuba. Okay, Fidel Castro is the leader.
That sounds funny, yeah?
He's won the Revolution and he's in charge of Cuba now.
Okay, however, the CIA and America don't really like this, so they're gonna try assassinate him.
Okay, so the weapon that you're doing here is not really to try and take an entire army is just to.
Take on one man. Yeah, okay, but he does eventually die of natural causes after 19 spoiler.
And I think they're like 600 attempts and to murder him, but I didn't know.
That's right, yeah, or maybe not attend plans. Yeah, yeah.
At least plans anyway, the 1st and probably the most famous assassination attempt was the poison cigar and basically.
Kills.
Basically, he was given a box of his favourite cigars and all of the tips were poisoned.
I think another idea could have been like maybe there could have been some sort of oil or something so when he lets the cigar it would settle fire.
Yeah, I see. You see, in films and things like an explosive one or car team. But yeah, that's quite sneaky. He's this sort of thing is just relax after hard Dave building the the island and yeah, lights up his favourite cigar.
Anyway.
Next one is the Mafia and the ice cream plot sounds a bit random, but basically the CIA were working with the local mafia with some of the most wanted people around.
Both their plan.
Their plan was to put some poison pills into an ice cream because cast ring very famously loved his ice cream. Yes, but kind of embarrassingly he dropped his ice cream.
Apparently to eat it.
Yeah, but they managed to.
I guess you could say, hire one of the people who worked at the restaurant to slip some pills into the bottom of his cone, yeah?
But as I said, he dropped it.
Yes, that was probably his very famous ice cream parlour that you had, which I think at the time was the world's largest ice cream.
Restaurants I remember you telling me about that yeah quite a while ago, but there's a couple of different versions of the story like so. This one might not be 100% true. Maybe it was just a plan or something because someone else recalls it being a chocolate milkshake instead of an ice cream.
I see, yeah Castro, he was really struggled to find cows that would survive when Kiwi.
Obviously he wanted to make his own milk on the island for his ice cream and had real struggles there with his love of the cold stuff.
Golden horse
anyway. Next ones are the exploding shell and the poisonous diving suits.
Okay.
So he loved scuba diving is one of his main hobbies, and the CIA tried to make an exploding shell. So maybe he would be looking around, maybe turning over some rocks.
They make it look super interesting or something so he would survive.
It about like shiny show. Yeah, but I don't think this one worked.
There was also the poisoned diving suit which.
Was like the inside was coated with a horrible.
Are not sure what it was, but it must have been like a poison or something which would give him some sort of disease. I think. Ohh nice, so you said it's sarcastic yeah yeah, yeah.
Yeah, but I think he ended up like bring his own something I don't know.
I guess he was pretty aware of a lot of these assassination attempts and he was extra extra cautious.
He probably like, got told five years later or did you know that you know that the CIA tried to assassinate you 620 times something and then the last one? But I'm going to mention is the eBay Ding. So basically.
These were attempts to kill Castro just to like embarrass or discredit him. Okay, yeah.
Or maybe kill her Tharanga will get so angry that he's lost his beard.
Yeah, they basically gave him some stuff that made him lose his beard.
Ohh yeah, that's the plan I think wasn't too. Yeah it was character assassination so that's pretty such a symbol of who he was that if he didn't have his.
Beard that's not capture anymore.
Otherwise he would have to be live streamed to draw a beard on his face.
I could work actually yeah. Choc ice cream and.
Then take a look when you're ready, yeah.
Good thinking, well, I think if there's 600 plus attempts to assassinate one man and they all fail.
From supposedly the most powerful nation in the world against the tiny islands. Yeah, I think it's pretty quite crazy ideas there, so I'm going to write that as an 8 as.
Well I reckon I'm going to do a 9 not yeah okay but it clearly proves that you have to be like chased around USA and CIA. Have to try assassinate you to live a long life. Could he lived to the age of 90 in?
The end captain, this taster guess Yep.
Very good.
OK, now I'm going to take control of the times you need once more and we are going to head back to World War Two. Just really should have done this when you were there.
But much more convenient I.
Know and it's expensive to run this machine anyway. Love to get the lottery numbers later, okay?
Say last episode we know all about our lovely oxen friends, but cattle have been weaponized as well.
So I've got another one for.
You here so they have like rockets and missiles mounted on their back and they start firing.
Not quite know they're not dropping car parts.
Now, have you ever heard of Operation Vegetarian no no. If its operation vegan they would have told you about it.
Anyway, so in 1942 the British plan to drop the linseed cakes infected with anthrax spores into the fields of Germany.
So you know, I'm practise taking roughly, yeah, chats about it before pretty nasty bacterium. Yep.
We've chatted a lot it.
Just casually, you know. Yeah, something we talk about now. Yeah, these linseed cakes sound quite tasty. They would have been eaten by the cattle.
Then the cat would be needed by people resulting in the deaths of potentially millions and millions of civilians, and also lots of poor little Moo cows.
Yeah, but that's actually not a bad idea.
Oh, as a weapon you mean, yeah?
Just as good idea, kill these counts.
Well, I guess it isn't. It's kind of because then they run out of food as well.
There's cows are trusting.
Exactly, yes, there is a way to sort destroy the infrastructure and things without actually destroying buildings.
And things so there was like their main idea of passing on poison. And then I guess it would be some possible side effects as well. Well, yeah, I'll still harmful.
Yes, so as he went through testing an it was done on a small island off the coast of Scotland called Bruno Art.
Which was uninhabited, but 60 lucky sheep were given a holiday there and they were then bombed with the slurry of anthrax spores. Lucky things they all died. Testing actually went better than expected, but soon stopped when a storm washed ashore. One of the dead sheep and several local farm animals became infected and died.
And then he starts the chain, destruction, death and lots and destruction and lots of death.
Yes, so it's decided to go ahead with the plan and the lethal linseed cakes were ready by the spring of 1944. Actually, five million 270, three 1400 had been produced, and there actually any 13 women responsible for injecting the anthrax into the cakes. So it's quite a lot each.
Weight so only 30 so and it was only those 13.
Yes, yeah. So they were busy ladies, yeah.
But by the time the cakes were ready, the Allied troops were steadily advancing across Europe, so the project was abandoned and all 5,000,000 cakes were destroyed in an incinerator.
Whew, yeah. So bit of a waste there, but I guess join we don't know what's going to happen so you gotta have all.
These plans ready you gotta experiment exactly. That's probably why Mr. These are made.
Desperate times, desperate measures.
So what of grenade Island?
Well, the anthrax hangs around there long after the war and in 1981 newspapers began to receive messages titled Operation Dark Harvest.
Indeed, I may contain demands from some micro biologists, micro biologists, even from two different universities, and they demanded that the islands BD contaminated and the scientists with the help of some locals from the mainland's nearby and actually stock over to the island and collected soil from it. It's pretty dangerous stuff there, so it's still really, really deadly, and they threatened that they would leave it at appropriate points that will ensure rapid loss of indifference of the government.
And the equally rapid education of the general public. So it's a scary threat. So they were going to leave this in different places. And I'm coming whether pasted now there was one.
Lot of soil pasted in Blackpool where the Conservatives were having their party conference at the time that was infected with anthrax, but it was sort of a similar type to that found in the islands and there was one other location I can't remember where they actually had dangerous soil there.
Understandably, the government complied. So in 1990, after 48 years, the island was finally safe to visit again and the original rain is actually purchased it back for £500 just was already sold for. Of course, the that's quite good deal in the end with inflation. Yes, where's the island there? So little flat mount.
Quick funny.
Yes, it's not far from the mainland, actually, when he says.
It's it's scary. Easily. I'm not surprised that one of the sheep got washed up. I thought was going to be like.
Along track from the islands tonight.
Just imagine if it actually dropped all those millions of cakes in Germany, he would still be feeling their effects.
Today, yeah and maybe 1,000,000 spread through.
To other parts of the world, as well as obviously they're not just going to stay in Germany.
Yeah so.
It's probably better off that.
We didn't drop it, yeah?
So I'm going to write this one as really stupid.
Because using biological chemical weapons is just insane.
Nine out of 10 again, yeah, quite a turnout of 10, I don't think.
Yeah, it's a bit.
Of a quirky deployment mechanism dropping things for cows to eat. Yeah, I think just the scape for this to go hideously wrong.
I think that the idea was quite clever and as well I'm gonna say.
So that's my next weapon. Do you have anymore?
I have a couple more, let's do the anti tank dogs which I mentioned earlier and the crumble off.
Okay, right? So do we need to go in around The Time Machine here?
I'm not really OK, that's good, so I still have my daughter so did work out in.
The end, thank goodness that you seem to have.
A desire to use animals as weapons.
While the anti tank dogs yeah and also they.
Fired for a rocket.
That we're doing quite funny. Well, not really. Any dog lovers stop listening now and I forgot to mention before the any animal lovers stop listening from the pigeons and bats.
Yes, no animals were harmed in the production of this episode.
Probably not.
Anyway, anti tank dogs were used by the Russians and they were trained to run underneath the tanks and then detonated.
This laser.
Show killing the crew and the tank, but also the dog.
Quite a clever idea, but.
The dogs are often scared of the noises of the tanks ran into Russian trenches.
And especially as the shock would just go through the trench so.
Yeah, yes, I know, yeah.
And I imagine some people would have been so far.
Now state that reminds me little bit of the war elephants that were used.
Pigs their tails on fire, yeah.
Yeah yeah. So in Ramen Horse of Alexander the greats times that have the elephants here and like.
You're saying it really heavily backfired? Yeah, also, really stupidly, the Russians trained the dogs on their own tanks.
Okay.
Because dogs have such a keep smell, they could tell the difference between the diesel an the gasoline engines diesel for Russians and then gasoline for German.
Sneezing, actually, that is, that's incredible, yeah.
I've also got the krumlauf.
Okay, is this another animal?
No, but it's actually a gun designed by the Germans. Yep.
And it was like a gun that could shoot round corners. Well, kind of St wear in corners and actually came in four different versions, 30 degrees, 45 degrees, 60 degrees, an 90 degrees okay?
So.
Is this a like a curved barrel or?
Something, yeah, it's a kirkbarrow. I'm pretty sure you could like mount it or put on a the first ever assault rifle as well. Was the SDG 44 an you could mount it on the like?
Oh, this is like an adapter that you apparently under the barrel. Yeah Okay, which was like a curve. Say do stuff like stick your head round.
The corner no. No, you could probably know there there wasn't thing. Yes, I imagine you would already know, so I.
Think this is quite.
Clever, yeah yeah, it's actually not a bad idea and it kind of worked because.
Because of the curvature of the barrel, the bullets would like shatter and break the barrel OK even with some modifications afterwards, like some holes to stop the shockwave and stuff like that still wasn't great, but depending on which angle or which version you had, it could have fire.
No lasted 100 to 300 rounds before just falling apart completely. Yes, I imagine maybe.
That made the difference though.
Maybe 50 to 200 actually useful ones that have a bit of power, but.
I don't know, yeah.
Well, both of those ideas I can see some logic in them there, so you could say the engineering on the.
Bendy gun
wasn't perhaps the best, and then the dogs.
I mean.
Dog main, yeah, so you could see there again a clever idea. Not very nice for doggies obviously, but I think that crazy compared to some of the others. Not compared to your pigeon.
Yeah, there's a little bit of brains behind them. I guess you could say so.
Under 3/2.
Right, let's travel.
I know maybe 10 years into the future after the 1950s. Okay, now you would forgive the ancient Greeks for their crazy siege towers and understand, however awful the weird weapons of World War Two driven by the chaos and desperation, despair of Total War.
Yep.
Quite casually said.
That's my presenting voice.
I suppose.
But you'd expect after the war, hopefully more modern, civilised intelligent man would emerge from the ashes.
You'd be wrong.
Yes, you would be wrong. Have you ever heard of Project Brown body? No make that Blue Bunny and they make that blue. Peacock is the final name they settled on.
It's quite funny.
So Howard Brown bunnies related to blue Peacocks.
I don't know, no idea.
Bunnies are sweet and soft and Peacocks are beautiful. But they make the most horrible sounds lately. And yeah, I used to be terrified of the noise.
They made I. I remember seeing one in every five. Granny's house really close. It was amazing. Unfortunately, pig yeah. Unfortunately it didn't have its feathers out, but I've seen some nice illustrations and drawings with their feathers.
Yeah, they're interesting birds.
Anyway, say what sort of weapon could blue Peacock be?
Um?
I had this chicken.
No. Well, let me tell you now, this weapon was only actually declassified in 2004 on April 1st and it's so stupid that people thought it was.
April Fools Day I was about to say.
Yeah, people generally thought it was a joke.
So after the Soviets helped us Wipeout Nazi Germany with their dog destroying tanks.
Tanks destroying dogs, even don't.
Yeah, that's how. Popular thanks.
For 234 game.
But I suppose.
After it helped, doesn't actually won the war for us. Whatever Americans like to tell you, blah blah blah.
We decided we didn't like them either.
Say what better way to kind of deterring them from crossing over the border of Germany than to hide nuclear minds in the soil?
That could blow up the world.
So when the Russian tanks came rolling through Germany, they get a great big surprise.
And probably wouldn't even notice will be obliterated.
Exactly, yeah, but there was a small technical issue to overcome and that's that in Germany. In winter this all gets really really cold and this could lead to malfunctions of the weapon, so they would need to be kept warm. Now do you have any ideas how?
You could have.
Like someone farting on every minute or something, that's.
Probably more sensible than.
What they did? Any other ideas?
Not sure, having or maybe it's like a tiny explosion.
Explosion next spark.
Every time these are.
Good guesses, but not right. Do you should have a look charming.
I've written this very big for you. You can say this word.
UQ headless chickens I know.
You were at least.
There they would sit on the minus and like their eggs.
Sort of, yeah, so they would use chickens was the plan so inside the mind there be a compartment with the space for several chickens and enough food.
Is that these? These rent levels yes, there's mines and there be enough food in there for them to last maybe a week or two. But as of course safety here was paramount there. Be a wire casing around them that would stop them accidently picking anything important.
I.
Was a bit like my pigeon bumps and kind.
Of yes it is yeah.
Chickens are great incubators.
I think probably inside compartment they had some egg shaped kind of nebules for them to sit on. That's how big she anyway and they would keep the nuclear weapon or warm and cosy until they died.
I'm cold or know that we stuck upright because they bumped the egg. Things like that there, but maybe.
Obviously the British didn't actually want to tell the Germans that these were nuclear bombs or nuclear minds, so they told them they were power generators, which is kind of true. But they did produce some heat I guess.
But thankfully, concerns of the political probably not the radioactive fallout, prevented the weapon ever being used.
Is a good thing. I'm most were on the topic of extra stupid nuclear weapons. The discussion would be complete without this, but.
Oh well, talk about in a second, but I was just.
Thinking like nobody's heard of these. Probably until they listen to our podcast, obviously, but.
A lot of these could have changed about quite drastically, but then nobody's heard of them at all. Now, let's talk about this thing.
Yeah, so this nuclear weapon. Here is the American Davy Crockett personal nuclear rocket launcher.
So you just keep on losing their garage on your gun holster of your car.
Exactly, I imagine it's the.
Kind of device that a lot of people would like to have under their pillow.
It does say personal nuclear rocket.
Now, over 2000 such devices were made and they were rather inaccurate and had a four kilometre range, so they were probably more of a danger to the launcher than their targets.
So not great specially for advertiser. It's like blow yourself up, yeah.
So how would you rate? Let's do Project Peacock project Peacock.
EH8 craziness.
Yeah, I'm going to get 8.5 here, but I just think.
What happens in the chicken stay babies cold exactly and the whole point was to keep it warm. So you yeah, anyway, she's.
Dumb dumb yes the Davy Crockett.
I would say that's a 10 because like if it is really inaccurate, it might not even fire or something for really isn't great and it's only got a four kilometre range. Yeah, you blow yourself up as well.
But I don't think that's as crazy just because the size of the payload. There's probably bit smaller mention.
It maybe just 7.
Each may be.
Right, we have been keeping track of the scores. By the way, say listeners. I hope you.
Have been any fans.
So that's the last of my property. Destructive weapons. Do you have anymore yourself?
I don't think so.
Some other ones, they weren't really lethal and that means they don't make onto our list. Ohh.
No, they do. They do make it onto my list because we are now going to cover some non lethal weapons. Besides being a trend towards this in recent years.
Yes, actually that's a bit. One of mine is quite recent as well.
Maybe they're inspired by narrow wanting to sing an aim to stop rather than kill the enemy.
I don't know.
And I found this about Akashi decided there a good idea or not. So obviously you don't want to harm people with possible, but there's something.
Form is more sinister about these and it makes you wonder who the intended targets are. Is enemy forces, or is it a desire to control those closer to home?
Done, done.
But I think some might be good for paintball.
Yeah okay, so got picture here. Sounds just seen. Say one of the oldest ones and this is actually used in the 1990s in Somalia and it is the sticky fame gun so.
She look quite effective, yeah, so.
We would imagine it, sorry.
Jeanette, as like a tape gun so you'd be fire some sticky tape and then you'll be stuck in it. But it's like trillion come instead.
Yeah, well, it's like really extra powerful, sticky, expanding fame, but she might have used for filling holes in insulating and things like that. And if you get on your skin will actually take hours and hours to remove it. Then after coming into contact with anything, it hardens really quickly and it traps the targets they can't move. But I mean if you get on your face or something yet.
One lethal weapon is a lethal weapon exactly. They had mixed success. For that. It's kind of an odd one.
Yes, I'm one of mine. Is the stink ball grenades, so these non lethal grenades explode, releasing 100 rubber pellets in explosion over twice as loud as a fire alarm. There loud yes and with with the Flash, 6 million candles bright.
Wow, yes, that's incredibly bright lights.
Some blight on the land.
Yeah, so the rubber balls. They would kind of background everywhere. It's like rubber bullets, so there must be non lethal but really really painful and they hurt a lot.
So it's a bit like airsoft or battle, yeah airsoft.
Extremely yeah, really loud. Really bright and could.
That deaf and.
Only mentioned could do, could do or permanent hearing damage and probably damage your eyes so.
Vibrates your voice.
To incapacitate people.
Well, I would say that's not quite lethal, but very.
Very much on the limit, yeah?
Yeah.
I just radar studio.
Be fine, yeah?
Now I've got a little bit of chemical warfare here. Another relatively modern I think from the 70s or 80s.
And this was gespray which.
Was a rather odd idea where some scientists working for the military wanted to create a chemical, maybe using pheromones or something that would make enemy combatants fall hopelessly in love with one another and they wouldn't be able to concentrate on the.
Battle that similar distinct spray because it wasn't aimed to like hurt either, and it was had some sofa or net and that smells like rotten eggs and food and it was more just do you like embarrass and humiliate?
He fosters, yeah, it was actually called The Who me.
Ohh really yeah okay.
Yeah, like that who?
Me.
Yeah it was really funny, but it was like ditched after two weeks like nobody.
Got fed up with it.
Himself Yep it did. At the idea was to sneak up behind.
The enemy which one is hard in itself.
With a new head end up smelling of rotten eggs are.
Effective with that, may not very very that's.
Why they got rid of it after?
Two weeks for your gas masks on Charlie.
This I lost weapons I think.
I do have another sorry young niece or one which is the LED incapacitate are otherwise known as the peak gun. I think you've actually told me about this before this episode 7 about it. Well good, but.
Basically it was designed for use. It's actually quite more modern. I think it was yeah 2007 and it was designed for useful like border guards. Yeah security guards and you would aim the light at someone in Libya. Kind of quick succession of different coloured flashes and it was it was like create nausea and disorientation headaches. Lots of different symptoms.
In the past it seemed out, but the there's a bit of design flooring it and you could just close your eyes.
You'll be absolutely fine, so.
Even see where you're going. But still, yeah, that reminds me a little bit. Actually. The Israelis had a weapon. I think it's called the Thundercat and an it was create a tremor in the ground and I think the vibrations everything would also cause people would feel nauseous.
Yeah, I was thinking like if you shake too much like uncontrollably as well, you need the toilet sometimes yeah, but also I imagine I imagine that could. Yet the brand note. I imagine that would actually work quite well because.
You aren't going to know that you can just close your eyes. Maybe they would try it, but then you can quickly run up.
To them like.
Teaser, yeah, if you're in a combat situation or over riots, or whether it's going to be used, then you would yeah, you're not going.
Close rise, are you? And this also was border control mostly, but I imagine it could be used.
For riots and stuff. So it's actually quite a good idea, and people I think should use it again, there's.
Other similar ones as well like heat rays, which basically fire. I think it's microwave energy at a point and after few seconds make your skin feel like it's burning so and you can stay there for a few seconds and run off so they can understand the idea of those more than kind of the gays spray. Maybe the same gun is a little bit.
Harder as well, yeah, but there is actually kind of makes sense and.
These are, I guess you could say good.
Good, I like non lethal weapons and you can get rid of symptoms quite easily.
Yeah depends who's using them and why, I guess, but that's ultimately the same with.
Anything?
Well, my profound point there.
Anyway, so that's the end of our weapons. So as you can see.
People throughout history have had some really crazy ideas, crazy ideas, yeah, and just always maybe just for control or to cause harm to other people. So imagine if we'd actually channelled all of that science and technology and things into.
Into adding energy astronomy. Recently looking at the stars.
Exactly Aero medical care or looking at people? I mean, there could be a different.
Place or how to help others? Poorer countries maybe as well, like a cheap freshwater source which we have done. I think there's.
A couple of things, but it's not being supplied unfortunately, or cheap electricity source or easy electricity so.
Yeah, yeah, green energy.
Instead of because one of the reasons why these countries don't have any of those things is because.
Because we've made these weapons to destroy them, yeah.
Yeah, exactly, we're.
Doing the office out of what we should.
Be, yeah, so I hope we haven't glorified weapons and more in this episode I.
Think we've I don't.
Think we have if had a little bit of a joke at the stupidity of some of it. Through looking at the.
Extremes so they know, like wars horrible and it's like not right, yeah. But then people are like, oh look, there's Warner's cool things, yeah, then they're not thinking of the other side.
They should be.
You like tanks and weapons and things and the games, and I think it's that balance there between and. One way it's the most incredibly exciting thing there is. But the reality of actual real war is its horrific, isn't it?
That's why I quite like it like making little stories with dioramas and painting my figures and stuff.
Are you writing?
Ohh yeah.
Ohh it's gonna be number at the end of this now, but thank you very much. I hope you enjoyed it and you found it quite interesting to see what some military minds have been up to in previous years in our little time to actually have returned to the present.
Do.
You still have any power left.
Idea?
That will take you through the ages. Yeah, say thank you for listening and there was echoing.
Hello, it's me here again recording post editing this oversized, we forgot something first will Anton now has a YouTube channel called at the Curiosity of Gaming where he is doing some Minecraft builds and there be other gaming activities there so please search on YouTube for the curiosity of gaming channel and take a look coz he's really proud of what he's been making.
And also exciting news. We are part of the that's not Canon network. I would say podcast network where there's loads of great shows that you can listen to and as part of that we're going to meet some of the other fabulous podcasts that you can listen to.
The first show like to recommend is 20 minute history, which is a great podcast and it covers interesting people or times or places or evidence just in good white size episodes. But anyway, I will let the host himself told about the show, so back in a moment.
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Yeah, so where can you find us? By actually I've only found us if you're listening, but on social media.
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Some Facebook at Curries hard pod and we are pretty much every pod casting platform errors, but we would remember babe deeply but we really need your reviews please because we haven't had one for about six months now and it's sad.
I mean, I would about really good amazing weapons now.
Yeah, so when we get back to the present and I'm really old as he watched that 1950s, nineteen 60s.
They're pretty dead.
I'll be ohh yeah, he came forward Okay.
Yeah, you just.
Even though.
Yes, I'm going to be myself and Osborne. Yes, thank you very much for listening and hopefully next episode we can have a really, really, really.
Cool interview. Yep, with a very cool person.
Yeah, so we trust him then he's lovely.
And he was very excited and we were very excited.
Yes, so we will see you soon so stay safe and don't make anything crazy.
Yep.
Bye bye.
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John.
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