海角大神

If there鈥檚 any office that resembles the quirky, geeky workshop of James Bond鈥檚 Q, it鈥檚 probably the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Launched in reaction to Sputnik, DARPA is the research wing of the Department of Defense. Workers there design new-age lasers, satellites, unmanned vehicles, advanced prosthetics 鈥� and that鈥檚 only what they鈥檝e made public. Now celebrating its 50th year, DARPA has conceived and constructed countless advances 鈥� many of which are used far away from the battlefield.

In honor of this golden anniversary, New Scientist whipped up two Top 5 lists 鈥� DARPA鈥檚 five biggest breakthroughs and its five biggest blunders. Here鈥檚 a sample from each:

The Internet: Precisely who 鈥渋nvented鈥� the mass of linked computer networks that is today鈥檚 Internet is a moot point. But it wouldn鈥檛 have happened without the ARPANET network built by DARPA in the 1960s. The idea was to make a 鈥渟elf-healing鈥� communications network that still worked when parts of it were destroyed. It was the first network to transmit data in discrete chunks, not constant streams, and led to the development of the [Internet] specification still in use today.

The mechanical elephant: Frustrated by a lack of decent tarmac in the jungle, DARPA sought to create a 鈥渕echanical elephant鈥� during the Vietnam war. Its vision of high-tech Hannibals piloting them through the forest never came true. It is alleged that when the director heard of the plan, he scrapped the 鈥渄amn fool鈥� project immediately in the hope that no one would hear about it.

Here鈥檚 the (which includes entries on GPS and telepathic spies 鈥� guess which one didn鈥檛 work) and a from DARPA鈥檚 website.

Also check out:
'Grand challenges' spur grand results
The Pentagon goes Hollywood
It's back: the global arms race