1. Special Award: That Time America Forgot How To Make Nukes
This is not so much an invention as an uninvention that could have changed the course of history. Nuclear Weapons are arguably one of the worst things to happen to the human race. Many would agree that it would be best for humanity if we could somehow "unlearn" them and, astonishingly, it looks like this nearly happened quite recently. In 2007, the US government wanted to refresh the nation's undoubtedly huge stockpile of nuclear warheads when they realised that no one knew how to produce a vital ingredient, a mysterious substance known as "FOGBANK". The actual composition and purpose of FOGBANK is highly classified, so classified, it would seem, that the people in charge neglected to mention it to the people making the bombs. Since it's not a good idea to jot down the recipe for highly dangerous, classified materials on a bit of scrap paper, and all of the people who had originally known how to make the material had since left or retired from service, the current, clueless engineers had to set about reverse-engineering it, or it would be no more nukes for the United States. Deadline after deadline past, and by 2009, America still didn't didn't have any shiny new nukes. Eventually, scientists were able to reproduce FOGBANK and even improve on it, creating even deadlier weapons than ever before. Perhaps some things are better left forgotten. Want to write for What Culture Science? Click here to find out how you could get paid to write about what you love.Love all things science? Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for your next fix.
