1 00:00:02,042 --> 00:00:03,750 - [Dan] Warning, what you are about to see 2 00:00:03,750 --> 00:00:05,625 could be disturbing to some viewers. 3 00:00:05,625 --> 00:00:07,417 Viewer discretion is advised. 4 00:00:08,833 --> 00:00:11,083 (suspenseful music) 5 00:00:14,542 --> 00:00:19,125 Imagine military superpowers around the world 6 00:00:19,125 --> 00:00:23,917 enlisting beloved sea creatures to search and destroy. 7 00:00:23,917 --> 00:00:25,792 (dolphin squeaking) - They're very loving, 8 00:00:25,792 --> 00:00:27,042 they're very friendly. 9 00:00:27,042 --> 00:00:28,667 - But then, pop. 10 00:00:28,667 --> 00:00:33,250 - The dolphins would ram any suspected enemy. 11 00:00:33,250 --> 00:00:36,750 - How about building a swarm of robot assassins? 12 00:00:36,750 --> 00:00:39,250 - We've armed these robots, we've taught them to think. 13 00:00:39,250 --> 00:00:40,750 We've taught them to work together. 14 00:00:40,750 --> 00:00:42,167 - It's not that hard to imagine 15 00:00:42,167 --> 00:00:45,083 having your own private drone swarm army. 16 00:00:46,042 --> 00:00:49,042 - Or turning corpses into killers. 17 00:00:49,042 --> 00:00:53,042 - Men in the Mongol army are dying in droves. 18 00:00:53,042 --> 00:00:54,375 - They're bloated bodies. 19 00:00:54,375 --> 00:00:55,708 When they hit, 20 00:00:55,708 --> 00:00:57,625 (choir singing) 21 00:00:57,625 --> 00:01:00,167 they're exploding on impact. 22 00:01:00,167 --> 00:01:02,292 - These are the weapons so surprising, 23 00:01:02,292 --> 00:01:04,875 they are truly unbelievable. 24 00:01:04,875 --> 00:01:07,167 (dramatic music) 25 00:01:17,292 --> 00:01:22,083 It's 1941 and Britain is getting hammered by Nazi Germany. 26 00:01:22,083 --> 00:01:23,917 The Luftwaffe is reigning bombs down 27 00:01:23,917 --> 00:01:25,542 on London and other cities, 28 00:01:25,542 --> 00:01:28,708 as U-boats wreak havoc along Allied shipping routes. 29 00:01:28,708 --> 00:01:31,833 Desperate for something that can turn the tide of war, 30 00:01:31,833 --> 00:01:34,208 British special ops come up with 31 00:01:34,208 --> 00:01:38,167 something we can only call unusual. 32 00:01:38,167 --> 00:01:41,042 (intense music) (flames raging) 33 00:01:42,042 --> 00:01:44,708 - They procure rats with the idea 34 00:01:44,708 --> 00:01:48,375 that they can use these rodents, that will usually go unnoticed, 35 00:01:48,375 --> 00:01:50,750 as weapons of mass destruction. 36 00:01:50,750 --> 00:01:55,083 - They take the bodies of recently departed rats, 37 00:01:55,083 --> 00:01:56,625 they fill them with explosives, 38 00:01:56,625 --> 00:01:59,292 and then stitch their little bodies back together. 39 00:02:00,542 --> 00:02:02,500 - They would make sure that these explosive rats 40 00:02:02,500 --> 00:02:05,708 would end up in the coal piles of a steam train, of a ship, 41 00:02:05,708 --> 00:02:09,083 of a factory, and then when the shovel full of coal 42 00:02:09,083 --> 00:02:10,625 would be thrown into the furnace, 43 00:02:10,625 --> 00:02:14,542 the explosives would ignite, causing death, causing damage, 44 00:02:14,542 --> 00:02:17,208 causing problems for the German war machine. 45 00:02:17,208 --> 00:02:18,833 - So the plan is launched. 46 00:02:18,833 --> 00:02:22,292 They have the rat bombs, they have the supply ready to go, 47 00:02:22,292 --> 00:02:23,875 and they just need to ship them into Germany 48 00:02:23,875 --> 00:02:27,250 where they have an agent on the inside who's to ensure 49 00:02:27,250 --> 00:02:29,083 that they're distributed in ways 50 00:02:29,083 --> 00:02:32,208 that'll cause the maximum amount of damage. 51 00:02:32,208 --> 00:02:34,667 - [Dan] Off goes the shipment of rigged rats. 52 00:02:34,667 --> 00:02:37,083 Everything seems to be going to plan. 53 00:02:37,083 --> 00:02:40,458 That is, until the Germans smell a rat. 54 00:02:40,458 --> 00:02:43,083 - The Nazis intercept the rat bombs, 55 00:02:43,083 --> 00:02:45,417 but it's not a total loss. 56 00:02:45,417 --> 00:02:48,542 - The German army is now paranoid and every possible rat, 57 00:02:48,542 --> 00:02:51,625 every possible rat haven environment, 58 00:02:51,625 --> 00:02:55,208 becomes a potential explosive threat. 59 00:02:55,208 --> 00:02:57,375 - The fear of this threat is so extensive that 60 00:02:57,375 --> 00:03:00,292 they even display what one of these rat bombs looks like 61 00:03:00,292 --> 00:03:02,542 at German military schools. 62 00:03:02,542 --> 00:03:04,458 Ultimately, British special ops determined 63 00:03:04,458 --> 00:03:06,458 that this is a far better consequence 64 00:03:06,458 --> 00:03:09,458 than they had ever intended with the rat bombs themselves. 65 00:03:09,458 --> 00:03:12,333 - An inordinate and disproportionate 66 00:03:12,333 --> 00:03:14,792 amount of attention is now directed 67 00:03:14,792 --> 00:03:17,667 toward the cadavers of rats, 68 00:03:17,667 --> 00:03:20,083 when maybe what the enemy should be doing 69 00:03:20,083 --> 00:03:21,708 is looking out for something else. 70 00:03:23,083 --> 00:03:24,833 - Not to be outdone by Britain, 71 00:03:24,833 --> 00:03:29,208 the US deploys their own exploding mammal to end the war. 72 00:03:29,208 --> 00:03:32,375 Oddly enough, this one flies. 73 00:03:32,375 --> 00:03:34,708 (explosion booming) (tense music) 74 00:03:35,708 --> 00:03:38,125 - The Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, 75 00:03:38,125 --> 00:03:40,708 the United States enters World War II, 76 00:03:40,708 --> 00:03:45,750 and we're trying to come up with any, any clever idea 77 00:03:45,750 --> 00:03:49,500 to end the war as quickly as possible. 78 00:03:49,500 --> 00:03:52,833 - In Pennsylvania, this dental surgeon by the name 79 00:03:52,833 --> 00:03:56,542 of Dr. Lytle Adams thinks that he has the ideal remedy, 80 00:03:56,542 --> 00:03:58,667 the ideal weapon for the United States. 81 00:04:00,875 --> 00:04:02,542 - Adams is a part-time inventor 82 00:04:02,542 --> 00:04:05,625 and he is also a man who enjoys exploring caves. 83 00:04:05,625 --> 00:04:08,500 And one day he's touring around caves in New Mexico 84 00:04:08,500 --> 00:04:11,750 and he sees bats hanging everywhere, and he thinks, 85 00:04:12,875 --> 00:04:15,042 "What if we weaponize them?" 86 00:04:15,042 --> 00:04:19,083 - His idea? Strap explosives to bats 87 00:04:19,083 --> 00:04:21,542 and release them into enemy territory. 88 00:04:22,667 --> 00:04:25,875 - This is absolutely a stroke of genius. 89 00:04:25,875 --> 00:04:28,875 Dr. Adams knows that bats can carry more 90 00:04:28,875 --> 00:04:31,042 of their body weight than birds. 91 00:04:31,042 --> 00:04:33,208 They fly faster than birds. 92 00:04:33,208 --> 00:04:37,625 - The way this can work is that you can chill the bats down 93 00:04:37,625 --> 00:04:42,125 to around 40 degrees and they enter a hibernation state. 94 00:04:42,125 --> 00:04:43,625 - Each hibernating bat is fitted 95 00:04:43,625 --> 00:04:46,458 with a little incendiary device of napalm. 96 00:04:47,792 --> 00:04:50,292 These hibernating, bomb laden bats 97 00:04:50,292 --> 00:04:53,458 can then be loaded into a canister 98 00:04:53,458 --> 00:04:56,750 and that could be carried up aloft in a B-25. 99 00:04:56,750 --> 00:04:59,375 Once released, the bats would naturally wake up 100 00:04:59,375 --> 00:05:01,542 when they hit warmer air. 101 00:05:01,542 --> 00:05:03,208 - They will then flutter off 102 00:05:03,208 --> 00:05:07,000 and find whatever building they possibly can and roost. 103 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,458 - So these bats make their way into the eaves of buildings, 104 00:05:09,458 --> 00:05:10,917 into attics, into crawl spaces, 105 00:05:10,917 --> 00:05:13,792 and then when the timer goes off, the napalm is ignited 106 00:05:13,792 --> 00:05:17,292 and then kabam, (explopsion booming) they explode. 107 00:05:17,292 --> 00:05:20,208 - How did this plan even get greenlit? 108 00:05:20,208 --> 00:05:23,625 Dr. Adams has friends in very high places. 109 00:05:24,958 --> 00:05:28,125 - Adams knows the first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. 110 00:05:28,125 --> 00:05:32,042 He writes her a letter describing what he wants to do. 111 00:05:33,667 --> 00:05:36,333 She then shows that letter to her husband, 112 00:05:36,333 --> 00:05:37,708 the president of the United States, 113 00:05:37,708 --> 00:05:40,375 the Commander-In-Chief of the American military. 114 00:05:40,375 --> 00:05:44,292 - FDR hands the idea over to the US Army Air Force, 115 00:05:44,292 --> 00:05:46,833 along with the $2 million check and says, 116 00:05:46,833 --> 00:05:49,042 "Go develop bat bombs." 117 00:05:49,042 --> 00:05:51,458 - There have to be those who think if the president, 118 00:05:51,458 --> 00:05:53,208 President Roosevelt wants this, 119 00:05:53,208 --> 00:05:54,792 then there's gotta be some science here, 120 00:05:54,792 --> 00:05:56,750 this there's gotta be something here that's worth pursuing. 121 00:05:56,750 --> 00:05:59,500 There also has to be those folks who are thinking to themselves, 122 00:05:59,500 --> 00:06:02,625 "This is literally bat (beep) crazy, how can this work?" 123 00:06:02,625 --> 00:06:06,208 - [Dan] To pull this off, Dr. Adams needs bats, 124 00:06:06,208 --> 00:06:07,875 a whole lot of them. 125 00:06:07,875 --> 00:06:09,625 - Adams chooses the Carlsbad Air Base 126 00:06:09,625 --> 00:06:11,667 because it's right near a system of caves 127 00:06:11,667 --> 00:06:14,750 that have a population of roughly nine million bats. 128 00:06:14,750 --> 00:06:16,250 So it's perfect, they'll be able 129 00:06:16,250 --> 00:06:17,750 to have an unlimited supply of bats 130 00:06:17,750 --> 00:06:20,833 and be able to test them using Air Force airplanes. 131 00:06:21,833 --> 00:06:23,792 - [Dan] There's just one question now. 132 00:06:23,792 --> 00:06:26,833 Do these flying mammals have what it takes to win a war? 133 00:06:26,833 --> 00:06:28,958 - The day arrives to do the first test 134 00:06:28,958 --> 00:06:30,667 without incendiary devices. 135 00:06:30,667 --> 00:06:32,292 So they take thousands of bats 136 00:06:32,292 --> 00:06:34,792 and then drop them over a farm. 137 00:06:34,792 --> 00:06:37,833 They fly down to the ground and they fly into the barn, 138 00:06:37,833 --> 00:06:40,667 they fly into hay bales, fly into the house. 139 00:06:40,667 --> 00:06:43,042 They're doing exactly what they hoped that they would do. 140 00:06:43,042 --> 00:06:45,583 - After the successful test with the unarmed bats, 141 00:06:45,583 --> 00:06:47,583 the army gets a little bit ambitious 142 00:06:47,583 --> 00:06:50,875 and that same day, decides to do a mini test 143 00:06:50,875 --> 00:06:52,500 with six armed bats. 144 00:06:53,458 --> 00:06:54,833 - [Dan] Six unlucky bats 145 00:06:54,833 --> 00:06:57,292 strapped with timer-rigged napalm capsules. 146 00:06:57,292 --> 00:07:00,417 Again, what could possibly go wrong? 147 00:07:00,417 --> 00:07:02,167 - They're getting ready to put them into the casing 148 00:07:02,167 --> 00:07:03,917 when suddenly the bats wake up, 149 00:07:03,917 --> 00:07:06,042 they come out of hibernation mode and they fly away. 150 00:07:06,042 --> 00:07:07,917 These bats fly all over the Air Force base. 151 00:07:07,917 --> 00:07:10,708 They get into a control tower, they get into a hangar, 152 00:07:10,708 --> 00:07:12,042 they go under a fuel tank. 153 00:07:12,042 --> 00:07:13,833 Some of them fly into an automobile nearby. 154 00:07:13,833 --> 00:07:16,042 Turns out it's the general's automobile. 155 00:07:16,042 --> 00:07:17,125 And they detonate. 156 00:07:17,125 --> 00:07:20,208 - The test of the bat bomb is such a success, 157 00:07:20,208 --> 00:07:22,042 it demolishes the military base, 158 00:07:22,042 --> 00:07:25,042 but it means it works, it works perfectly. 159 00:07:25,042 --> 00:07:27,708 - [Dan] Unsurprisingly, there is one person 160 00:07:27,708 --> 00:07:30,542 who is not very happy with the outcome. 161 00:07:30,542 --> 00:07:34,042 - Our army Air Corps general is pretty much fed up 162 00:07:34,042 --> 00:07:36,792 with this project because it blows up his car. 163 00:07:36,792 --> 00:07:38,750 It sort of puts a blemish on his record. 164 00:07:38,750 --> 00:07:41,042 So it's handed off to the United States Navy. 165 00:07:41,042 --> 00:07:44,167 - But the US Navy has other priorities. 166 00:07:44,167 --> 00:07:45,833 And the Navy, uninterested 167 00:07:45,833 --> 00:07:47,875 in developing this program further, 168 00:07:47,875 --> 00:07:50,167 turns it over to the United States Marine Corps. 169 00:07:51,375 --> 00:07:53,042 - When the Marines take over this project, 170 00:07:53,042 --> 00:07:55,375 they move the operation eventually to Utah, 171 00:07:55,375 --> 00:07:58,083 where they build a model Japanese village, 172 00:07:58,083 --> 00:08:00,458 and they're able to destroy this model village 173 00:08:00,458 --> 00:08:02,875 using these incendiary bats. 174 00:08:02,875 --> 00:08:05,083 - [Dan] Despite this initial success, 175 00:08:05,083 --> 00:08:08,917 the Marines quickly learn bats aren't always cooperative. 176 00:08:08,917 --> 00:08:11,875 - Sometimes they don't wake up from hibernation, 177 00:08:11,875 --> 00:08:14,125 so when they're dropped out of a plane, 178 00:08:14,125 --> 00:08:17,500 they just kind of fall and land wherever. 179 00:08:17,500 --> 00:08:20,042 - They find that when females are pregnant 180 00:08:20,042 --> 00:08:22,167 and males are in the vicinity of the pregnant females, 181 00:08:22,167 --> 00:08:25,375 that the males become agitated to such a degree 182 00:08:25,375 --> 00:08:27,875 that they're no longer predictably capable 183 00:08:27,875 --> 00:08:30,625 of delivering the explosives as intended. 184 00:08:30,625 --> 00:08:33,542 And there's really only about a five month period 185 00:08:33,542 --> 00:08:35,833 in the calendar year during which 186 00:08:35,833 --> 00:08:39,042 the bat can be reliably used for the delivery of explosives. 187 00:08:39,042 --> 00:08:40,458 And the big problem there 188 00:08:40,458 --> 00:08:43,042 is that the war goes on 12 months a year. 189 00:08:43,042 --> 00:08:46,417 - As the team is working through all these difficulties, 190 00:08:46,417 --> 00:08:49,333 in parallel, there's another effort underway 191 00:08:49,333 --> 00:08:52,917 to shorten the war, and that is the atomic bomb project. 192 00:08:52,917 --> 00:08:57,292 So eventually the bat bomb is simply discarded. 193 00:08:57,292 --> 00:08:58,583 (stamp thumping) 194 00:09:00,375 --> 00:09:01,833 - [Dan] More than a decade later, 195 00:09:01,833 --> 00:09:04,542 France dreams up a different type of aerial weapon. 196 00:09:04,542 --> 00:09:06,208 - The year is 1954. 197 00:09:06,208 --> 00:09:09,292 France has just lost the first Indo-China war 198 00:09:09,292 --> 00:09:13,167 and they're trying to figure out what can we do in future 199 00:09:13,167 --> 00:09:17,375 to mobilize our troops so that they are transported 200 00:09:17,375 --> 00:09:20,292 to places faster, while at the same time, 201 00:09:20,292 --> 00:09:21,750 having some type of weaponry 202 00:09:21,750 --> 00:09:25,042 that can take out heavy ordinance on the opposing side. 203 00:09:26,042 --> 00:09:28,125 - So what they come up with is this idea 204 00:09:28,125 --> 00:09:33,542 of mounting an anti-tank gun, a massive gun onto a scooter, 205 00:09:33,542 --> 00:09:37,042 but not just any scooter, an iconic scooter. 206 00:09:37,042 --> 00:09:39,875 - [Dan] The very word Vespa evokes visions of scooting 207 00:09:39,875 --> 00:09:42,667 through sun-kissed Italian hills, 208 00:09:42,667 --> 00:09:45,625 not these two wheeled killing machines. 209 00:09:45,625 --> 00:09:48,083 - In 1956, the French debuted 210 00:09:48,083 --> 00:09:51,333 their heavily militarized Vespa complete with the bazooka 211 00:09:51,333 --> 00:09:53,083 that is able to take out a tank. 212 00:09:53,083 --> 00:09:56,500 Here's the thing, it only costs about $500 to make, 213 00:09:56,500 --> 00:09:59,375 whereas a tank costs around $200,000 to make. 214 00:09:59,375 --> 00:10:04,500 So if your $500 weapon can take out a $200,000 weapon, 215 00:10:04,500 --> 00:10:07,750 I'd say it pays for itself after one usage. 216 00:10:07,750 --> 00:10:09,750 - [Dan] Cost effective for sure, 217 00:10:09,750 --> 00:10:12,708 but does it actually work on the battlefield? 218 00:10:12,708 --> 00:10:14,375 - The French actually used the bazooka 219 00:10:14,375 --> 00:10:16,167 in the French Algerian war. 220 00:10:17,167 --> 00:10:20,375 What they do is they parachute the scooter out 221 00:10:20,375 --> 00:10:22,875 of a plane along with two soldiers. 222 00:10:22,875 --> 00:10:24,708 - Suddenly, you have French paratroopers 223 00:10:24,708 --> 00:10:27,708 who, once they land on a drop zone with their Vespas 224 00:10:27,708 --> 00:10:30,208 and their M-20 anti-tank recoilless rifles, 225 00:10:30,208 --> 00:10:33,125 they can move from place to place very rapidly 226 00:10:33,125 --> 00:10:35,708 and they constitute a significant threat 227 00:10:35,708 --> 00:10:37,125 on the battlefield. 228 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:41,958 - Even though the Bazooka Vespa looks awesome, 229 00:10:41,958 --> 00:10:44,917 it still isn't really much of a match for the guerilla warfare 230 00:10:44,917 --> 00:10:47,083 that's happening on the streets of Algeria. 231 00:10:47,083 --> 00:10:50,042 - In the end, the Bazooka Vespa puts up a pretty good fight, 232 00:10:50,042 --> 00:10:52,875 but the Algerians put up a better one and win the war. 233 00:10:52,875 --> 00:10:53,500 but the Algerians put up a better one and win the war. 234 00:10:53,708 --> 00:10:55,167 But I still want a Bazooka Vespa. 235 00:10:56,167 --> 00:10:59,000 - The Bazooka Vespa is honorably discharged 236 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:01,125 after a production run of just over 600. 237 00:11:05,708 --> 00:11:07,708 - It's 1942, deep into World War II, 238 00:11:07,708 --> 00:11:10,208 the Nazi U-boats are blowing Winston Churchill's ships 239 00:11:10,208 --> 00:11:11,375 out of the water. 240 00:11:11,375 --> 00:11:15,667 It's time for an unconventional plan of attack, 241 00:11:15,667 --> 00:11:17,458 ice the Nazis. 242 00:11:17,458 --> 00:11:19,750 (tense music) 243 00:11:21,792 --> 00:11:24,417 - The most effective way to destroy all of these U-boats 244 00:11:24,417 --> 00:11:25,958 is through air cover. 245 00:11:27,375 --> 00:11:29,708 Unfortunately, it's World War II. 246 00:11:29,708 --> 00:11:32,292 We don't have planes that can really fly very far 247 00:11:32,292 --> 00:11:36,042 and those that can fly far, can't carry much armament. 248 00:11:36,042 --> 00:11:38,708 Well, we could build aircraft carriers. 249 00:11:38,708 --> 00:11:40,875 - The problem is there is a scarcity 250 00:11:40,875 --> 00:11:44,292 or shortage of metals like steel and aluminum. 251 00:11:44,292 --> 00:11:46,208 These are the structural materials that you would use 252 00:11:46,208 --> 00:11:48,875 to build a traditional aircraft carrier. 253 00:11:48,875 --> 00:11:51,625 - [Dan] Then, scientist and inventor Geoffrey Pyke 254 00:11:51,625 --> 00:11:54,208 has an unusual proposal. 255 00:11:54,208 --> 00:11:56,333 - As crazy as it sounds, 256 00:11:56,333 --> 00:11:59,500 Geoffrey Pyke ultimately develops this idea 257 00:11:59,500 --> 00:12:04,000 that we could introduce the unsinkable aircraft carrier 258 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:06,333 and that it could be an iceberg. 259 00:12:07,333 --> 00:12:09,750 - [Dan] How can a floating iceberg possibly function 260 00:12:09,750 --> 00:12:11,375 as an aircraft carrier? 261 00:12:11,375 --> 00:12:15,750 Incredibly, inspiration comes from the Titanic disaster. 262 00:12:15,750 --> 00:12:18,375 - The Titanic was supposed to be an unsinkable ship 263 00:12:18,375 --> 00:12:21,208 and an iceberg took it down in minutes. 264 00:12:21,208 --> 00:12:25,208 So everyone, the Navy, passenger ship liners, 265 00:12:25,208 --> 00:12:28,542 every maritime entity is terrified of icebergs. 266 00:12:28,542 --> 00:12:30,333 The International Ice Patrol is born 267 00:12:30,333 --> 00:12:32,292 and their job is basically 268 00:12:32,292 --> 00:12:34,708 to just torpedo the hell outta icebergs. 269 00:12:34,708 --> 00:12:35,917 (explosion booming) 270 00:12:35,917 --> 00:12:38,000 - What they find is that ships 271 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:40,458 are really not good at sinking icebergs. 272 00:12:40,458 --> 00:12:42,583 You can direct the biggest guns 273 00:12:42,583 --> 00:12:45,167 that a Navy has toward an iceberg 274 00:12:45,167 --> 00:12:48,833 and you're barely going to chip a little chunk off of it. 275 00:12:48,833 --> 00:12:50,708 - [Dan] Thinking outside the box, 276 00:12:50,708 --> 00:12:53,917 Pyke creates a plan to convert icebergs 277 00:12:53,917 --> 00:12:56,042 to aircraft carriers. 278 00:12:56,042 --> 00:12:59,458 Somehow. the project is green lit by Churchill. 279 00:12:59,458 --> 00:13:02,583 - Of course, this idea has to have a really good code name 280 00:13:02,583 --> 00:13:05,000 and Pyke calls it the HMS Habakkuk, 281 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:06,958 which is a play on the prophet Habakkuk 282 00:13:06,958 --> 00:13:10,875 from the Old Testament, who was able to do the impossible. 283 00:13:12,333 --> 00:13:15,292 - [Dan] And just what does the impossible look like? 284 00:13:15,292 --> 00:13:18,375 - Pyke draws up the blueprints for his aircraft carrier, 285 00:13:18,375 --> 00:13:21,292 which is made almost entirely of ice. 286 00:13:21,292 --> 00:13:23,750 He flattens out the top of it to use as a runway 287 00:13:23,750 --> 00:13:25,083 and hollows it out 288 00:13:25,083 --> 00:13:27,042 so there's a big cavern in the middle to serve 289 00:13:27,042 --> 00:13:29,167 as a shelter for the planes. 290 00:13:29,167 --> 00:13:32,083 - [Dan] More than four times the size of the Titanic, 291 00:13:32,083 --> 00:13:35,125 it will be the largest warship ever built. 292 00:13:35,125 --> 00:13:36,875 - It's not going anywhere fast, 293 00:13:36,875 --> 00:13:39,083 we're talking about eight miles an hour, 294 00:13:39,083 --> 00:13:40,917 but it's torpedo proof, 295 00:13:40,917 --> 00:13:43,167 and it's got anti-aircraft guns on it, 296 00:13:43,167 --> 00:13:45,042 and you can launch fighters off of it. 297 00:13:45,042 --> 00:13:46,542 So how cool is that? 298 00:13:47,542 --> 00:13:50,417 - [Dan] Building a huge warship from ice is one thing. 299 00:13:50,417 --> 00:13:53,167 Keeping it from melting is another challenge. 300 00:13:54,208 --> 00:13:56,375 - Pyke creates this kind of indestructible material. 301 00:13:56,375 --> 00:14:00,750 It's 14% wood pulp, 86% ice, he calls it pykrete. 302 00:14:00,750 --> 00:14:04,542 And this is going to reinforce the hull of what he believes 303 00:14:04,542 --> 00:14:08,917 is going to be an indestructible floating airstrip 304 00:14:08,917 --> 00:14:11,875 for the Allied forces to retake U-boat Alley 305 00:14:11,875 --> 00:14:13,958 from the German war machine. 306 00:14:15,292 --> 00:14:18,000 - If the Allies can pull this off, Churchill will have 307 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:20,917 the most incredible secret weapon in the war. 308 00:14:22,375 --> 00:14:24,333 - They decide that they're gonna build a prototype 309 00:14:24,333 --> 00:14:27,042 of the Habakkuk on Lake Patricia in Canada. 310 00:14:27,042 --> 00:14:29,500 They have kind of an endless supply of ice. 311 00:14:29,500 --> 00:14:33,167 Ultimately, it's about 60 feet in length. 312 00:14:33,167 --> 00:14:35,583 It's not the most attractive thing. 313 00:14:36,542 --> 00:14:40,333 It is described as sort of a floating, frozen shoebox. 314 00:14:40,333 --> 00:14:43,833 However, when they shoot a ton of torpedoes at it, 315 00:14:45,292 --> 00:14:48,167 it stays afloat and is relatively unscathed, 316 00:14:49,542 --> 00:14:53,083 further proving this could potentially be a game changer 317 00:14:53,083 --> 00:14:54,917 in the Allied war effort. 318 00:14:54,917 --> 00:14:56,708 - [Dan] After the successful test, 319 00:14:56,708 --> 00:15:00,875 Churchill decides it's time to build the mile-long Habakkuk, 320 00:15:00,875 --> 00:15:03,792 but that's much easier said than done. 321 00:15:03,792 --> 00:15:06,542 - The entire operation demands more 322 00:15:06,542 --> 00:15:08,792 in the way of raw materials and resources 323 00:15:08,792 --> 00:15:10,458 than ever dreamed of. 324 00:15:10,458 --> 00:15:13,917 It requires steel, steel as a part of this cooling system 325 00:15:13,917 --> 00:15:15,292 that will make it possible 326 00:15:15,292 --> 00:15:17,083 for the iceberg to survive longer. 327 00:15:17,083 --> 00:15:19,375 And steel is a valued commodity 328 00:15:19,375 --> 00:15:21,958 at this stage during the Second World War. 329 00:15:21,958 --> 00:15:25,958 - The cost of building the full Habakkuk ship 330 00:15:25,958 --> 00:15:29,708 will be two and a half million pounds. 331 00:15:29,708 --> 00:15:32,375 - That's where Churchill just says it's not worth it. 332 00:15:32,375 --> 00:15:35,792 He cancels development of the HMS Habakkuk 333 00:15:35,792 --> 00:15:38,708 and stops all testing in Canada. 334 00:15:38,708 --> 00:15:41,375 - [Dan] Think water-based weapons can't get more weird 335 00:15:41,375 --> 00:15:43,417 than an iceberg aircraft carrier? 336 00:15:44,583 --> 00:15:46,958 How about weaponizing Flipper? 337 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:50,417 - Dolphins are kind of the hippies of the sea. 338 00:15:50,417 --> 00:15:53,625 They're very loving, they're very friendly. 339 00:15:53,625 --> 00:15:56,542 We don't think of them as helping a war effort. 340 00:15:56,542 --> 00:15:58,708 - [Dan] But from the Cuban Missile Crisis onwards, 341 00:15:58,708 --> 00:16:01,625 trained dolphins are successfully deployed in Vietnam 342 00:16:01,625 --> 00:16:06,708 and Iraq to complete missions no human would dare take on. 343 00:16:06,708 --> 00:16:09,417 - Dolphins show an incredible acuity 344 00:16:09,417 --> 00:16:12,875 in terms of spotting mines below the surface of the water. 345 00:16:12,875 --> 00:16:15,750 Essentially, they use their echo location 346 00:16:15,750 --> 00:16:17,875 to determine where the mine is. 347 00:16:17,875 --> 00:16:19,375 - If the dolphin finds a mine, 348 00:16:19,375 --> 00:16:23,208 the dolphin will ascend to the surface and tap a buoy, 349 00:16:23,208 --> 00:16:25,833 at which point the animal will be given a reward. 350 00:16:26,875 --> 00:16:31,000 - [Dan] Next, the Navy tries using dolphins as assassins. 351 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:32,583 - So in Vietnam, these dolphins 352 00:16:32,583 --> 00:16:35,542 have a hypodermic needle attached to their snout. 353 00:16:35,542 --> 00:16:37,042 Gas is inside of it. 354 00:16:37,042 --> 00:16:40,042 The diver who gets poked by the gas, they don't die. 355 00:16:40,042 --> 00:16:41,542 They just float to the surface. 356 00:16:41,542 --> 00:16:43,292 - It might seem like the dolphin is being friendly, 357 00:16:43,292 --> 00:16:46,042 but then pop, you get stabbed with this hypodermic needle 358 00:16:46,042 --> 00:16:47,375 and you're rocketing to the surface 359 00:16:47,375 --> 00:16:49,083 where they can be apprehended. 360 00:16:50,375 --> 00:16:52,292 - [Dan] Incredibly, dolphins are still being used 361 00:16:52,292 --> 00:16:54,208 as secret weapons today 362 00:16:54,208 --> 00:16:57,167 and the US isn't the only superpower relying on them. 363 00:16:58,208 --> 00:17:00,500 - The Russian Navy has two dolphin pens 364 00:17:00,500 --> 00:17:04,583 near the Sevastopol Harbor in the entrance to the Black Sea. 365 00:17:04,583 --> 00:17:07,417 - Famously, the Russians move these dolphins 366 00:17:07,417 --> 00:17:11,417 to patrol this key tactical harbor in Sevastopol 367 00:17:11,417 --> 00:17:15,708 to protect the ships that are incredibly high value 368 00:17:15,708 --> 00:17:18,250 to the Russian war effort. 369 00:17:18,250 --> 00:17:19,833 - The Ukrainians are using divers 370 00:17:19,833 --> 00:17:22,917 that can conduct attacks against Russian naval bases. 371 00:17:22,917 --> 00:17:24,417 And in response to that, the Russians 372 00:17:24,417 --> 00:17:27,083 have introduced weaponized dolphins. 373 00:17:27,083 --> 00:17:30,792 - They are tasked with anti-diver operations 374 00:17:30,792 --> 00:17:33,667 to stop any potential sabotage. 375 00:17:33,667 --> 00:17:36,708 The belief is that the dolphins 376 00:17:36,708 --> 00:17:41,167 would ram any potential human being below the water, 377 00:17:41,167 --> 00:17:43,500 thinking they were a suspected enemy. 378 00:17:44,458 --> 00:17:45,958 - [Dan] And it's not just dolphins 379 00:17:45,958 --> 00:17:47,208 serving their countries. 380 00:17:47,208 --> 00:17:50,667 Can you imagine a whale in the role of 007? 381 00:17:51,917 --> 00:17:56,750 - The Russian Navy has spy whales patrolling the Arctic, 382 00:17:56,750 --> 00:17:59,250 running surveillance, protecting its ports, 383 00:17:59,250 --> 00:18:00,458 protecting its ships, 384 00:18:00,458 --> 00:18:03,125 and letting it know where the enemy is. 385 00:18:04,083 --> 00:18:05,542 - [Dan] This Russian secret weapon 386 00:18:05,542 --> 00:18:10,625 is about to become not so secret and you won't believe how. 387 00:18:10,625 --> 00:18:12,583 (mysterious music) 388 00:18:12,583 --> 00:18:15,333 - A bunch of Norwegian fishermen are out 389 00:18:15,333 --> 00:18:17,417 and a friendly beluga whale just kind of swims up 390 00:18:17,417 --> 00:18:19,708 to their boat and they realize it's wearing some kind 391 00:18:19,708 --> 00:18:24,958 of a strappy harness thing, sort of like a GoPro rig. 392 00:18:24,958 --> 00:18:27,250 - And when they look closer at it, 393 00:18:27,250 --> 00:18:29,417 they find that in Cyrillic characters, 394 00:18:29,417 --> 00:18:31,667 it says, "Property of St. Petersburg." 395 00:18:31,667 --> 00:18:35,375 It provides evidence that the animal has been equipped 396 00:18:35,375 --> 00:18:37,708 with this package of equipment that was made 397 00:18:37,708 --> 00:18:39,583 by the Russian Federation. 398 00:18:39,583 --> 00:18:42,000 - [Dan] As for the fate of the beluga whale spy 399 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:44,375 that the Norwegian fishermen found. 400 00:18:44,375 --> 00:18:48,042 - The funny thing is, that whale essentially defects 401 00:18:48,042 --> 00:18:52,292 and goes to Norway where it is renamed Hvaldimir, 402 00:18:52,292 --> 00:18:55,708 as an homage and maybe poking fun at Vladimir Putin. 403 00:18:56,833 --> 00:18:58,167 - This beluga James Bond 404 00:18:58,167 --> 00:19:00,833 is certainly living his best life in Norway. 405 00:19:00,833 --> 00:19:02,625 If the idea of whales 406 00:19:02,625 --> 00:19:02,725 If the idea of whales 407 00:19:03,708 --> 00:19:05,792 as a weapon strikes you as truly strange, 408 00:19:05,792 --> 00:19:08,792 wait 'til you see our next unbelievable weapon. 409 00:19:12,792 --> 00:19:15,667 - In the late 1950s, the US is looking for a way 410 00:19:15,667 --> 00:19:16,875 to take down communism. 411 00:19:16,875 --> 00:19:18,208 Their solution? 412 00:19:18,208 --> 00:19:22,000 A weird weapon that might be too explosive. 413 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:24,375 (tense music) 414 00:19:24,375 --> 00:19:27,000 - At one of the peaks of the Cold War, 415 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,208 the US Navy and the US Air Force 416 00:19:29,208 --> 00:19:31,167 are the two services leading the way 417 00:19:31,167 --> 00:19:33,167 in America's nuclear arsenal. 418 00:19:33,167 --> 00:19:34,542 (explosion booming) 419 00:19:34,542 --> 00:19:36,542 But the Army wants to find some way 420 00:19:36,542 --> 00:19:39,292 to use nuclear devices in its own activities, 421 00:19:39,292 --> 00:19:41,333 notably in the field. 422 00:19:41,333 --> 00:19:43,333 - What if, on the battlefield, 423 00:19:43,333 --> 00:19:45,917 a confrontation with Soviet Russia, 424 00:19:45,917 --> 00:19:48,458 we have a portable nuclear weapon, 425 00:19:48,458 --> 00:19:52,667 a nuclear bomb attached to the end of a bazooka? 426 00:19:53,833 --> 00:19:57,042 That is a battle winning idea. 427 00:19:57,042 --> 00:19:58,667 (tense music) 428 00:19:58,667 --> 00:20:00,792 - [Dan] They call it the Davy Crockett 429 00:20:00,792 --> 00:20:02,625 and it packs a potent punch. 430 00:20:02,625 --> 00:20:04,375 - The Davy Crockett weapon system 431 00:20:04,375 --> 00:20:07,208 fires a 20-ton nuclear warhead. 432 00:20:07,208 --> 00:20:09,083 Anything in its immediate vicinity 433 00:20:09,083 --> 00:20:12,083 is gonna be reduced to ash, rubble. 434 00:20:12,083 --> 00:20:14,625 (explosion booming) 435 00:20:14,625 --> 00:20:18,208 - It's great at eradicating your enemies. 436 00:20:18,208 --> 00:20:22,625 It's also great at eradicating your allies. 437 00:20:22,625 --> 00:20:24,208 - [Dan] Therein lies the King 438 00:20:24,208 --> 00:20:27,167 of the Wild Frontier's little problem. 439 00:20:27,167 --> 00:20:29,750 - It uses radioactive material, 440 00:20:29,750 --> 00:20:32,667 and the men who are deploying this device 441 00:20:32,667 --> 00:20:34,250 are going to be very close to it, 442 00:20:34,250 --> 00:20:37,417 so they're at risk of radiation poisoning. 443 00:20:37,417 --> 00:20:38,875 - What they actually tell them to do 444 00:20:38,875 --> 00:20:43,042 is safely fire the weapon, hide behind cover. 445 00:20:43,042 --> 00:20:46,458 Don't look at the bright flash, get away as quickly as possible. 446 00:20:46,458 --> 00:20:49,375 That way you don't suffer from nuclear fallout. 447 00:20:49,375 --> 00:20:50,708 - [Dan] Believe it or not, 448 00:20:50,708 --> 00:20:54,375 friendly fire radiation isn't the only issue. 449 00:20:54,375 --> 00:20:59,208 - Deploying nuclear weapons on a battlefront 450 00:20:59,208 --> 00:21:02,875 is a guaranteed way to start an escalation 451 00:21:02,875 --> 00:21:04,458 to global nuclear war. 452 00:21:04,458 --> 00:21:07,417 It won't just stop with the Davy Crockett. 453 00:21:08,458 --> 00:21:11,000 - The army starts recalling the weapon. 454 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:12,542 The official reason 455 00:21:12,542 --> 00:21:15,958 is that they are not accurate enough for combat. 456 00:21:15,958 --> 00:21:17,833 (explosion booming) 457 00:21:19,667 --> 00:21:22,583 - Well, I think the threat of possibly ending civilization 458 00:21:22,583 --> 00:21:25,625 as we know it merits a change of pace 459 00:21:25,625 --> 00:21:29,208 to a weird weapon of less destruction. 460 00:21:29,208 --> 00:21:31,458 (pensive music) 461 00:21:31,458 --> 00:21:34,750 - The year's 1991, we are in the Somali Civil War. 462 00:21:34,750 --> 00:21:38,083 At the time, the United Nations is sent there solely 463 00:21:38,083 --> 00:21:39,625 as a peacekeeping force. 464 00:21:39,625 --> 00:21:42,958 They don't have any weapons, nor do they want any weapons 465 00:21:42,958 --> 00:21:45,583 that are going to lead to a lethal end. 466 00:21:45,583 --> 00:21:48,625 - There are very few less-than-lethal weapons 467 00:21:48,625 --> 00:21:52,083 out there that aren't truly less than lethal. 468 00:21:52,083 --> 00:21:53,833 Rubber bullets will kill people. 469 00:21:53,833 --> 00:21:55,958 You can use a taser, that can kill people. 470 00:21:57,375 --> 00:21:59,458 - [Dan] UN forces need a new kind of weapon 471 00:21:59,458 --> 00:22:02,833 they can be 100% sure is non-lethal. 472 00:22:02,833 --> 00:22:05,667 - The UN decides that their non-lethal approach 473 00:22:05,667 --> 00:22:09,458 is going to be a sticky foam gun. 474 00:22:09,458 --> 00:22:13,333 It's kinda like the proton pack from "The Ghostbusters." 475 00:22:13,333 --> 00:22:14,708 (foam whooshing) 476 00:22:14,708 --> 00:22:16,667 - [Dan] But what this weapon discharges 477 00:22:16,667 --> 00:22:19,750 is far different from subatomic particles. 478 00:22:19,750 --> 00:22:21,500 - You have a backpack on your back 479 00:22:21,500 --> 00:22:23,542 with a hose that goes over your shoulder 480 00:22:23,542 --> 00:22:26,083 and you spray your victim with a foam 481 00:22:26,083 --> 00:22:28,125 that once it hits air, it hardens up 482 00:22:28,125 --> 00:22:29,792 and expands onto your victim. 483 00:22:29,792 --> 00:22:31,042 (foam squirting) 484 00:22:31,042 --> 00:22:33,792 - The gelatinous sludge hits them, it overwhelms them 485 00:22:33,792 --> 00:22:37,375 to where the person, covered in this foam, loses the ability 486 00:22:37,375 --> 00:22:39,500 to manipulate their arms and legs 487 00:22:39,500 --> 00:22:41,875 because they can't struggle against it any longer. 488 00:22:41,875 --> 00:22:44,583 - [Dan] In theory, it sounds like the perfect weapon. 489 00:22:44,583 --> 00:22:46,917 In practice, not so much. 490 00:22:46,917 --> 00:22:50,125 - When the sticky foam gun is fired at someone, 491 00:22:50,125 --> 00:22:53,708 it does take several seconds for the chemical to harden 492 00:22:53,708 --> 00:22:55,500 before it finally holds someone in place. 493 00:22:55,500 --> 00:22:57,417 - So that person, if they're dangerous 494 00:22:57,417 --> 00:22:58,917 and you hit 'em with the foam, 495 00:22:58,917 --> 00:23:00,625 they're gonna remain dangerous for a few moments 496 00:23:00,625 --> 00:23:03,292 before the foam incapacitates them. 497 00:23:03,292 --> 00:23:05,000 - [Dan] But the biggest issue of all? 498 00:23:06,208 --> 00:23:08,375 - If you don't aim exactly right, 499 00:23:08,375 --> 00:23:11,250 you can get it in someone's mouth or nose 500 00:23:11,250 --> 00:23:13,000 and you can suffocate them. 501 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:14,500 Eventually, the plan is scrapped 502 00:23:14,500 --> 00:23:18,167 and they shut down this program for this sticky foam gun, 503 00:23:18,167 --> 00:23:22,208 mostly because it does have the potential for lethality. 504 00:23:22,208 --> 00:23:23,833 (foam whooshing) 505 00:23:23,833 --> 00:23:26,375 - [Dan] What could be weirder than a weapon spewing foam? 506 00:23:27,292 --> 00:23:30,000 How about one that makes you spew? 507 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:32,625 - America is trying to figure out all sorts of ways 508 00:23:32,625 --> 00:23:36,042 to take out anyone that might want to harm the security 509 00:23:36,042 --> 00:23:39,167 of these United States, foreign or domestic. 510 00:23:39,167 --> 00:23:41,333 One of these weapons is created 511 00:23:41,333 --> 00:23:43,208 by the Department of Homeland Security 512 00:23:43,208 --> 00:23:45,958 and it costs $1 million to produce, 513 00:23:45,958 --> 00:23:50,792 and it is known officially as an LED incapacitator. 514 00:23:52,208 --> 00:23:53,875 - It looks like a flashlight, 515 00:23:53,875 --> 00:23:56,958 but instead of having one big light bulb, it has a series 516 00:23:56,958 --> 00:24:00,542 of small LED light bulbs that flash at different colors 517 00:24:00,542 --> 00:24:03,375 and different intensities in a waving pattern. 518 00:24:03,375 --> 00:24:05,042 - Let's say you have somebody coming at you, 519 00:24:05,042 --> 00:24:08,500 an unarmed attacker, so you can't use lethal force, 520 00:24:08,500 --> 00:24:10,208 but you wanna stop them. 521 00:24:10,208 --> 00:24:13,750 You could hit them in the face with this LED incapacitator. 522 00:24:14,875 --> 00:24:17,958 They'll stop and then you have to worry 523 00:24:17,958 --> 00:24:21,458 about cleaning them up after you get them in handcuffs. 524 00:24:21,458 --> 00:24:23,792 - [Dan] That's because of the LED incapacitator's 525 00:24:23,792 --> 00:24:27,292 unpleasant side effect, giving it a rather fitting nickname. 526 00:24:27,292 --> 00:24:29,458 - The puke ray gun. 527 00:24:29,458 --> 00:24:30,917 (man vomiting) 528 00:24:30,917 --> 00:24:33,208 - If your stomach is not up to par, 529 00:24:33,208 --> 00:24:35,375 you'll vomit on yourself. 530 00:24:35,375 --> 00:24:38,042 - With these bright LED lights that are 531 00:24:38,042 --> 00:24:40,542 being targeted at an individual or a group of people, 532 00:24:40,542 --> 00:24:42,125 they're also changing colors very rapidly 533 00:24:42,125 --> 00:24:44,958 and can lead an individual to experience a bout 534 00:24:44,958 --> 00:24:47,708 of dizziness, vertigo, if you will, 535 00:24:47,708 --> 00:24:51,125 which could then lead to someone puking. 536 00:24:51,125 --> 00:24:53,917 - [Dan] In 2008, the LA County Sheriff's Department 537 00:24:53,917 --> 00:24:56,667 funds testing of the puke ray gun. 538 00:24:56,667 --> 00:24:58,208 Can it possibly work? 539 00:24:59,625 --> 00:25:02,708 - While the LED incapacitator does get the job done, 540 00:25:02,708 --> 00:25:04,917 the LA County Sheriff's Department also thinks about, 541 00:25:04,917 --> 00:25:08,208 well, what happens if the nefarious people 542 00:25:08,208 --> 00:25:09,875 get their own puke ray gun 543 00:25:09,875 --> 00:25:13,125 and then they in turn use it on us? 544 00:25:14,125 --> 00:25:16,708 - [Dan] Ultimately, the government shelves the project, 545 00:25:16,708 --> 00:25:20,083 but it's not the last we hear of the puke ray. 546 00:25:20,083 --> 00:25:23,833 - A few years later, a hacker by the name of Limor Fried, 547 00:25:23,833 --> 00:25:26,292 who goes by the name Ladyada, 548 00:25:26,292 --> 00:25:28,833 is able to recreate the puke gun. 549 00:25:28,833 --> 00:25:31,292 All it takes is a quick trip to Sears 550 00:25:31,292 --> 00:25:33,542 where she buys some cheap LED lights 551 00:25:33,542 --> 00:25:35,292 and she hooks them up to a battery 552 00:25:35,292 --> 00:25:37,958 and a fan she ripped out of her PC. 553 00:25:37,958 --> 00:25:39,208 - And it works. 554 00:25:39,208 --> 00:25:40,667 (lights whooshing) 555 00:25:40,667 --> 00:25:43,458 Her homemade puke ray gun actually works 556 00:25:43,458 --> 00:25:45,833 and it only cost $250. 557 00:25:47,125 --> 00:25:50,542 And somehow, it cost the Homeland Security Department 558 00:25:50,542 --> 00:25:53,375 almost a million to build the same thing. 559 00:25:53,375 --> 00:25:55,167 (light whooshing) 560 00:25:59,458 --> 00:26:01,125 - It's 184 BCE 561 00:26:01,125 --> 00:26:04,542 and Hannibal is an naval battle with King Eumenes II. 562 00:26:04,542 --> 00:26:07,625 At stake, control of what is now Turkey. 563 00:26:07,625 --> 00:26:10,708 Luckily, Hannibal has a genius plan 564 00:26:10,708 --> 00:26:14,167 that will go on to inspire a long lineage of weapons 565 00:26:14,167 --> 00:26:17,500 designed to launch weird things at the enemy. 566 00:26:17,500 --> 00:26:19,750 (tense music) 567 00:26:21,333 --> 00:26:23,667 - Hannibal has one ship. 568 00:26:23,667 --> 00:26:26,042 Eumenes, 425 ships. 569 00:26:26,042 --> 00:26:27,667 425 versus one? 570 00:26:28,708 --> 00:26:30,708 Eumenes is gonna crush him. 571 00:26:30,708 --> 00:26:32,958 - Hannibal has an idea. 572 00:26:32,958 --> 00:26:38,083 He tells his men to create what are essentially snake bombs. 573 00:26:39,375 --> 00:26:40,833 - Hannibal and his crew, 574 00:26:40,833 --> 00:26:42,958 they take these very, very venomous snakes 575 00:26:42,958 --> 00:26:44,917 and they put these snakes in clay pots, 576 00:26:44,917 --> 00:26:46,958 then put these clay pots on catapults 577 00:26:46,958 --> 00:26:51,042 and fling these clay pots into the air at the enemy ships. 578 00:26:51,042 --> 00:26:54,042 The snakes come exploding out of these clay pots 579 00:26:54,042 --> 00:26:55,708 and immediately they're agitated, 580 00:26:55,708 --> 00:26:57,167 which means they're gonna start attacking anything 581 00:26:57,167 --> 00:27:01,125 that's near them, which happens to be Eumenes II's sailors. 582 00:27:02,125 --> 00:27:05,583 - In a naval military conflict, the last thing you expect 583 00:27:05,583 --> 00:27:08,500 to be launched at you are snakes. 584 00:27:08,500 --> 00:27:11,208 (soldiers yelling) (snakes hissing) 585 00:27:11,208 --> 00:27:14,667 - Hannibal wins the day and ends up ruling 586 00:27:14,667 --> 00:27:17,708 that stretch of the sea, at least for now. 587 00:27:18,625 --> 00:27:20,708 - Snakes on a boat? 588 00:27:20,708 --> 00:27:22,875 Sounds like a pretty good movie idea. 589 00:27:22,875 --> 00:27:25,000 But Hannibal's catapult tactic has nothing 590 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:27,250 on one devised by the Mongols. 591 00:27:28,708 --> 00:27:31,875 - So it's the early part of the 13th century 592 00:27:31,875 --> 00:27:36,167 and the Golden Hoard, a mighty massive military force 593 00:27:36,167 --> 00:27:40,208 led by Genghis Khan, overtakes most of Asia, 594 00:27:40,208 --> 00:27:41,833 is on their way to Europe, 595 00:27:41,833 --> 00:27:44,875 and takes over the Crimean Peninsula. 596 00:27:48,833 --> 00:27:53,333 - The Genoese, Italian traitors from Genoa, 597 00:27:53,333 --> 00:27:56,250 they'd love to have power 598 00:27:56,250 --> 00:28:01,375 and a trading post in Crimea from the city of Caffa. 599 00:28:01,375 --> 00:28:02,917 - The Mongols strike a deal 600 00:28:02,917 --> 00:28:05,583 where the Genoese can stay in the walled city of Caffa 601 00:28:05,583 --> 00:28:08,083 and they can trade from that city. 602 00:28:08,083 --> 00:28:10,833 - All goes really well for some time 603 00:28:10,833 --> 00:28:14,875 until we have a new Khan, Jani Beg. 604 00:28:16,708 --> 00:28:20,375 Jani Beg Khan wants Caffa back. 605 00:28:20,375 --> 00:28:22,708 The Genoese refuse. 606 00:28:22,708 --> 00:28:26,583 So, what are they to do but besiege Caffa 607 00:28:26,583 --> 00:28:28,917 to get rid of the Genoese traders? 608 00:28:28,917 --> 00:28:31,208 (suspenseful music) 609 00:28:32,333 --> 00:28:33,750 - [Dan] Two years in, 610 00:28:33,750 --> 00:28:35,792 the Mongols develop a serious problem. 611 00:28:37,083 --> 00:28:42,208 - Suddenly, men in the Mongol army are dying in droves. 612 00:28:42,208 --> 00:28:44,958 - Jani Beg is seeing his soldiers fall left and right. 613 00:28:44,958 --> 00:28:48,375 He's thinking, how are we gonna continue a siege like this? 614 00:28:48,375 --> 00:28:51,375 - At the same time, the Genoese look over this wall 615 00:28:51,375 --> 00:28:54,208 and they're starting to see this powerful Mongol army 616 00:28:54,208 --> 00:28:58,917 writhing in pain on the fields, vomiting, just bleeding. 617 00:28:58,917 --> 00:29:01,417 And they think to themselves, we've won. 618 00:29:01,417 --> 00:29:02,875 They're too sick to fight. 619 00:29:02,875 --> 00:29:04,375 There's no way that they're gonna be able 620 00:29:04,375 --> 00:29:05,708 to take over the city from us. 621 00:29:05,708 --> 00:29:09,542 We get to keep it, the day is ours, hurrah. 622 00:29:09,542 --> 00:29:11,083 - [Dan] That's when the Golden Hoard 623 00:29:11,083 --> 00:29:13,250 of Mongols' fearless leader devises a plan 624 00:29:13,250 --> 00:29:17,375 that is both unbelievable and, well, disgusting. 625 00:29:18,875 --> 00:29:23,750 - They filled a trebuchet with their most foul smelling, 626 00:29:23,750 --> 00:29:26,875 worst looking, rotting, bloated corpses 627 00:29:26,875 --> 00:29:28,958 and launched them into the city in the hopes 628 00:29:28,958 --> 00:29:32,750 that the smell alone will drive the residents out. 629 00:29:35,625 --> 00:29:37,833 - They're bloated bodies, they're corpses. 630 00:29:37,833 --> 00:29:42,833 So when they hit, they're exploding on impact. 631 00:29:43,875 --> 00:29:47,958 Just stuff is just oozing from all sorts of gaps 632 00:29:47,958 --> 00:29:49,542 and crevices in these bodies. 633 00:29:49,542 --> 00:29:52,625 - The Genoese are inside going, man, 634 00:29:52,625 --> 00:29:56,042 we know we have to do something with all these dead bodies. 635 00:29:56,042 --> 00:30:00,000 So they start loading them into wagons 636 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:03,417 and carrying them to the river and dumping them in. 637 00:30:04,542 --> 00:30:05,917 (water splashing) 638 00:30:05,917 --> 00:30:07,792 - Problem solved, right? 639 00:30:07,792 --> 00:30:10,083 Nope, turns out the Genoese 640 00:30:10,083 --> 00:30:12,542 are victims of a new form of warfare. 641 00:30:14,083 --> 00:30:15,750 - As they're collecting these bodies 642 00:30:15,750 --> 00:30:17,167 and starting to dump them, they're noticing 643 00:30:17,167 --> 00:30:19,167 that they're also starting to get sick, 644 00:30:19,167 --> 00:30:22,042 and they're also starting to have the same symptoms 645 00:30:22,042 --> 00:30:24,583 that the Mongols did outside of the city. 646 00:30:24,583 --> 00:30:29,042 They are now writhing in pain and they realize, oh my God, 647 00:30:29,042 --> 00:30:31,333 we've got the same thing that they got. 648 00:30:32,792 --> 00:30:34,500 - [Dan] What the Genoese got 649 00:30:34,500 --> 00:30:37,417 is none other than one of the most infectious diseases. 650 00:30:38,542 --> 00:30:40,792 - The disease that Jani Beg 651 00:30:40,792 --> 00:30:43,458 and the Mongols have hit the Genoese with 652 00:30:43,458 --> 00:30:44,833 is the Bubonic Plague. 653 00:30:44,833 --> 00:30:47,167 (tense music) 654 00:30:48,125 --> 00:30:49,625 - So Jani Beg Khan's original idea 655 00:30:49,625 --> 00:30:50,875 was to just stink these people out. 656 00:30:50,875 --> 00:30:52,750 But now he's realizing, oh my God, 657 00:30:52,750 --> 00:30:55,333 I can get them just as sick as my men. 658 00:30:55,333 --> 00:30:57,083 So the bodies keep coming over the wall. 659 00:30:57,083 --> 00:30:59,708 He has no shame in throwing these men, 660 00:30:59,708 --> 00:31:01,042 flinging them over the walls, 661 00:31:01,042 --> 00:31:02,875 just watching them explode on impact 662 00:31:02,875 --> 00:31:04,583 and getting these Genoese people sick. 663 00:31:06,875 --> 00:31:08,625 - [Dan] The Black Plague trebuchet 664 00:31:08,625 --> 00:31:10,292 is easily the weirdest example 665 00:31:10,292 --> 00:31:13,125 of biological weaponry in human history 666 00:31:13,125 --> 00:31:16,333 and its impact will reach far beyond the walls of Caffa. 667 00:31:17,292 --> 00:31:20,167 - The Mongols retreat south of Caffa 668 00:31:20,167 --> 00:31:23,583 and all the Genoese abandoned the city, 669 00:31:23,583 --> 00:31:26,750 board boats towards Europe. 670 00:31:26,750 --> 00:31:30,875 And what they begin to do in their retreat 671 00:31:30,875 --> 00:31:33,500 is spread the Black Plague through Europe. 672 00:31:36,042 --> 00:31:39,208 - Is Jani Beg Kahn responsible for infecting most of Europe 673 00:31:39,208 --> 00:31:40,292 and killing 25 million people? 674 00:31:40,292 --> 00:31:41,417 and killing 25 million people? 675 00:31:41,417 --> 00:31:42,917 Hard to say. 676 00:31:42,917 --> 00:31:44,542 One thing's for certain, 677 00:31:44,542 --> 00:31:47,708 by flinging diseased bodies over a wall, 678 00:31:47,708 --> 00:31:51,000 he devised an impressive weapon of mass destruction. 679 00:31:55,208 --> 00:31:57,958 - Inflatable tanks, dummy military camps, 680 00:31:57,958 --> 00:32:00,208 it's all part of a bold operation aimed 681 00:32:00,208 --> 00:32:02,292 at defeating Hitler during World War II. 682 00:32:03,542 --> 00:32:05,958 - During the buildup that precedes the D-Day invasion 683 00:32:05,958 --> 00:32:09,333 in June 1944, Allied forces engage 684 00:32:09,333 --> 00:32:11,958 in a significant psychological operation, 685 00:32:11,958 --> 00:32:13,500 we create a ghost army, 686 00:32:13,500 --> 00:32:16,417 an army that does not actually exist. 687 00:32:16,417 --> 00:32:19,708 - The US Army wants to lead the Nazis to believe 688 00:32:19,708 --> 00:32:23,375 that their numbers are far greater than they actually are. 689 00:32:23,375 --> 00:32:26,000 Make it look one way to provide cover 690 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:28,125 for the real troop movements that are taking place 691 00:32:28,125 --> 00:32:30,542 in other spaces, more critical spaces. 692 00:32:30,542 --> 00:32:34,042 - We create encampments that are populated by no one. 693 00:32:35,375 --> 00:32:38,958 We play recordings of the sound that would be a part 694 00:32:38,958 --> 00:32:40,958 of a regular military camp. 695 00:32:40,958 --> 00:32:44,208 We famously create inflatable tanks, 696 00:32:44,208 --> 00:32:45,458 tanks that on the ground, 697 00:32:45,458 --> 00:32:47,208 if you looked at them from 10 feet away, 698 00:32:47,208 --> 00:32:50,292 you'd realize that's an inflatable tank, what is that? 699 00:32:50,292 --> 00:32:53,083 But to a German photo reconnaissance aircraft 700 00:32:53,083 --> 00:32:56,417 at 25,000 feet above, looking down and taking photos, 701 00:32:56,417 --> 00:32:58,500 it's gonna look like a real tank. 702 00:32:58,500 --> 00:33:01,083 (tense music) 703 00:33:01,083 --> 00:33:04,250 - And so, they are a masterful deception unit, 704 00:33:04,250 --> 00:33:06,417 which actually does in fact, fool the Nazis 705 00:33:06,417 --> 00:33:09,042 and gets the Nazis to divert resources away 706 00:33:09,042 --> 00:33:11,167 from the real operations. 707 00:33:11,167 --> 00:33:13,333 - [Dan] But the most unconventional use 708 00:33:13,333 --> 00:33:17,333 of ghost warfare happens much later, during the Vietnam War. 709 00:33:17,333 --> 00:33:19,208 It's perhaps the US military's 710 00:33:19,208 --> 00:33:21,500 weirdest psychological weapon ever. 711 00:33:22,500 --> 00:33:25,208 (tape squealing) 712 00:33:27,292 --> 00:33:31,375 - The war in Vietnam in the early 1970s is guerilla warfare 713 00:33:31,375 --> 00:33:34,625 and you can't always fight fire with fire. 714 00:33:34,625 --> 00:33:39,125 - Bullets and bombs are not demoralizing your enemy enough. 715 00:33:39,125 --> 00:33:40,542 You need something more. 716 00:33:40,542 --> 00:33:43,208 So you call up your psychological warfare friends 717 00:33:43,208 --> 00:33:45,792 in that battalion and they give you a few ideas. 718 00:33:45,792 --> 00:33:49,333 In this case, recordings of souls. 719 00:33:50,333 --> 00:33:54,083 - [Dan] Could an enemy, unfazed by superior firepower, 720 00:33:54,083 --> 00:33:57,375 be vulnerable to something more supernatural? 721 00:33:58,375 --> 00:34:00,375 - American military officials believed 722 00:34:00,375 --> 00:34:03,042 that they can capitalize on some of the superstitions 723 00:34:03,042 --> 00:34:05,708 of the Vietnamese people, particularly around death, 724 00:34:05,708 --> 00:34:08,500 and this idea that if a person dies in a space 725 00:34:08,500 --> 00:34:11,042 that's not their homeland, that they'll be condemned 726 00:34:11,042 --> 00:34:13,333 to wander for all eternity. 727 00:34:13,333 --> 00:34:16,208 What if they were to come up with a psychological operation 728 00:34:16,208 --> 00:34:18,542 that would play on those fears? 729 00:34:18,542 --> 00:34:21,500 - Well, a bunch of naval sound engineers gather in Saigon 730 00:34:21,500 --> 00:34:24,083 and they hire South Vietnamese voice actors 731 00:34:24,083 --> 00:34:26,875 and they create these very eerie, 732 00:34:26,875 --> 00:34:30,708 spooky sounding recordings that will trigger these fears 733 00:34:30,708 --> 00:34:32,292 among North Vietnamese soldiers. 734 00:34:33,292 --> 00:34:35,292 - What they do, is put these little speakers 735 00:34:35,292 --> 00:34:38,958 throughout the jungle, up in trees, all camouflaged, 736 00:34:38,958 --> 00:34:41,542 and run the wires back to base. 737 00:34:41,542 --> 00:34:44,375 - [Dan] On the night of February 10th, 1970, 738 00:34:44,375 --> 00:34:48,208 just after dark, the US forces hit the play button 739 00:34:48,208 --> 00:34:52,000 on what they call, Operation Wandering Soul. 740 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:53,333 (recording in Vietnamese) 741 00:34:57,167 --> 00:34:59,292 - In the first tape, a young girl is heard 742 00:34:59,292 --> 00:35:02,042 calling to her father and a man answers, 743 00:35:02,042 --> 00:35:04,167 "Who is that, who's calling me?" 744 00:35:10,583 --> 00:35:14,333 - [Dan] It's like "Good Morning, Vietnam," only haunted. 745 00:35:14,333 --> 00:35:16,708 Another recording features the crying, screaming, 746 00:35:16,708 --> 00:35:18,750 and laughing of women and children. 747 00:35:18,750 --> 00:35:21,792 It's designed to be impossible to sleep through. 748 00:35:21,792 --> 00:35:25,667 The aptly named tape, "No Doze." 749 00:35:25,667 --> 00:35:28,000 (crying on recording) 750 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:32,333 - The North Vietnamese soldiers know that they're speakers 751 00:35:32,333 --> 00:35:34,833 and they start using 'em for target practice, 752 00:35:35,875 --> 00:35:38,083 not 'cause they're scared by them, that they feel 753 00:35:38,083 --> 00:35:40,917 that their ancestors are calling them back home 754 00:35:40,917 --> 00:35:43,375 to not die far afield. 755 00:35:43,375 --> 00:35:46,167 They're firing at them 'cause they're annoyed by them. 756 00:35:47,292 --> 00:35:49,333 - As the program seems to be found not really working 757 00:35:49,333 --> 00:35:51,333 as intended, they double down and they say, 758 00:35:51,333 --> 00:35:53,042 you know what we really need to do? 759 00:35:53,042 --> 00:35:54,500 We need to broadcast these sounds 760 00:35:54,500 --> 00:35:57,208 and spooky things from helicopters. 761 00:35:57,208 --> 00:35:59,125 Helicopters that are simultaneously dropping 762 00:35:59,125 --> 00:36:01,417 leaflets urging people to surrender, 763 00:36:01,417 --> 00:36:03,375 urging people to give up. 764 00:36:03,375 --> 00:36:05,500 - [Dan] Screeching cries of Vietnamese women 765 00:36:05,500 --> 00:36:08,250 and children blasting from armed choppers 766 00:36:08,250 --> 00:36:13,417 do prove terrifying, just not to the intended targets. 767 00:36:13,417 --> 00:36:16,042 - It doesn't really have an effect on the Vietcong. 768 00:36:16,042 --> 00:36:20,500 What it does do is scare and really affect the locals, 769 00:36:20,500 --> 00:36:22,375 and the villagers, and the farmers. 770 00:36:22,375 --> 00:36:25,625 They're hearing these sounds and they're deeply disturbed. 771 00:36:25,625 --> 00:36:27,792 They're scared to leave the house. 772 00:36:27,792 --> 00:36:29,833 It shuts down civilian life. 773 00:36:30,833 --> 00:36:33,333 - [Dan] Eventually, Operation Wandering Soul 774 00:36:33,333 --> 00:36:37,250 becomes an invisible footnote of the Vietnam War, 775 00:36:37,250 --> 00:36:39,583 but all is not lost. 776 00:36:39,583 --> 00:36:41,333 - Cool fact, Operation Wandering Soul 777 00:36:41,333 --> 00:36:44,375 inspires the famous scene in "Apocalypse Now" 778 00:36:44,375 --> 00:36:46,417 where the helicopters are moving in on a position 779 00:36:46,417 --> 00:36:48,250 and they've got speakers on the outside of them 780 00:36:48,250 --> 00:36:50,083 and they're broadcasting for everyone 781 00:36:50,083 --> 00:36:50,875 to hear, the famous Wagner piece, "Ride of the Valkyries." 782 00:36:51,667 --> 00:36:53,417 to hear, the famous Wagner piece, "Ride of the Valkyries." 783 00:36:53,417 --> 00:36:55,333 So if nothing else, Operation Wandering Soul 784 00:36:55,333 --> 00:36:57,292 inspired a famous piece of filmmaking. 785 00:37:02,083 --> 00:37:03,375 - We've long known 786 00:37:03,375 --> 00:37:04,667 that artificial intelligence is the future. 787 00:37:04,667 --> 00:37:06,667 There's AI that can write you a shopping list, 788 00:37:06,667 --> 00:37:09,375 park your car, or even detect illnesses. 789 00:37:09,375 --> 00:37:13,708 But did you know that soon, there will even be robots 790 00:37:13,708 --> 00:37:17,792 that can seek and destroy by their own free will? 791 00:37:17,792 --> 00:37:19,792 (tense music) 792 00:37:21,333 --> 00:37:23,792 - The current state of robotic weapons 793 00:37:23,792 --> 00:37:27,500 has a human in the decision loop when it comes 794 00:37:27,500 --> 00:37:30,542 to pressing the button to kill someone. 795 00:37:32,250 --> 00:37:36,250 In the future, that human will be removed through some sort 796 00:37:36,250 --> 00:37:39,000 of AI enabled technology. 797 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:40,833 (explosion booming) 798 00:37:40,833 --> 00:37:43,208 - Artificial intelligence, machine learning, 799 00:37:43,208 --> 00:37:45,333 computer vision, facial recognition, 800 00:37:45,333 --> 00:37:47,375 all the new technology that's out there 801 00:37:47,375 --> 00:37:49,583 could be embedded into our weaponry 802 00:37:49,583 --> 00:37:51,542 so that it could be autonomous. 803 00:37:51,542 --> 00:37:55,375 A drone no longer needs a controller, an operator to say, 804 00:37:55,375 --> 00:37:57,708 "Kill this person, drop this bomb." 805 00:37:59,375 --> 00:38:01,417 It's gonna figure it out on its own. 806 00:38:01,417 --> 00:38:03,208 - What we're going to begin seeing more and more 807 00:38:03,208 --> 00:38:04,833 are the autonomous drone attacks. 808 00:38:05,708 --> 00:38:07,833 The drone is pre-programmed. 809 00:38:07,833 --> 00:38:10,250 So you release the drone 810 00:38:10,250 --> 00:38:12,125 and the drone flies toward its target, 811 00:38:12,125 --> 00:38:14,542 attacks and neutralizes that target, 812 00:38:14,542 --> 00:38:17,792 and then makes its escape from the scene of crime. 813 00:38:17,792 --> 00:38:19,750 - [Dan] If one killer drone capable 814 00:38:19,750 --> 00:38:23,375 of independent thought doesn't scare you, how about a swarm 815 00:38:23,375 --> 00:38:27,375 that can coordinate without humans? 816 00:38:27,375 --> 00:38:30,375 - So in the same way that a school of fish 817 00:38:30,375 --> 00:38:33,250 or a flock of birds can move around in space 818 00:38:33,250 --> 00:38:34,458 and coordinate with each other 819 00:38:34,458 --> 00:38:36,417 without a lot of explicit communication, 820 00:38:36,417 --> 00:38:39,500 a decentralized drone swarm can move around in space 821 00:38:39,500 --> 00:38:42,000 and coordinate its behavior with its neighbors. 822 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:46,292 - That ability to share information at electronic speed 823 00:38:46,292 --> 00:38:50,000 is what makes them so ridiculously powerful. 824 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:51,750 - [Dan] Strange as it may seem, 825 00:38:51,750 --> 00:38:55,875 there's already a race underway to build drones capable of this. 826 00:38:55,875 --> 00:38:57,875 - The United States, China, Russia, 827 00:38:57,875 --> 00:39:01,125 they're all developing different incarnations 828 00:39:01,125 --> 00:39:02,750 of drone swarms. 829 00:39:04,208 --> 00:39:05,625 So the Pentagon has conducted tests 830 00:39:05,625 --> 00:39:07,708 where they dropped hundreds of micro drones 831 00:39:07,708 --> 00:39:10,667 out of a fighter jet, equipped with explosives 832 00:39:10,667 --> 00:39:12,583 to carry out kamikaze attacks. 833 00:39:12,583 --> 00:39:15,583 In real life, the military is testing this. 834 00:39:15,583 --> 00:39:17,833 - [Dan] Even more frightening, 835 00:39:17,833 --> 00:39:21,208 these drones can be programmed to have a mind of their own. 836 00:39:21,208 --> 00:39:24,167 - Scientists in China have developed a swarm of drones 837 00:39:24,167 --> 00:39:26,917 that can very quickly navigate through a bamboo forest. 838 00:39:28,667 --> 00:39:30,625 - The ability of the drones to communicate 839 00:39:30,625 --> 00:39:33,875 with each other allows them to track a human target 840 00:39:33,875 --> 00:39:35,625 that's walking in the bamboo forest. 841 00:39:35,625 --> 00:39:38,333 Even if the view of an individual drone is blocked, 842 00:39:38,333 --> 00:39:41,417 it is aware of the view of the other drones at the same time. 843 00:39:41,417 --> 00:39:43,708 So it is impossible for that human 844 00:39:43,708 --> 00:39:46,792 to escape the view of a swarm. 845 00:39:47,792 --> 00:39:49,667 - Now, imagine we take the same drones 846 00:39:49,667 --> 00:39:50,917 and we're looking for someone. 847 00:39:50,917 --> 00:39:53,042 So we give the data of what someone looks like. 848 00:39:53,042 --> 00:39:54,333 Through facial recognition, 849 00:39:54,333 --> 00:39:55,917 they could then search for this person, 850 00:39:55,917 --> 00:39:59,458 and if we arm them, we can make them search and destroy. 851 00:39:59,458 --> 00:40:02,208 - So you could have a drone swarm of 5, 10, 50, 852 00:40:02,208 --> 00:40:03,917 100 drones, maybe 1,000, 853 00:40:03,917 --> 00:40:07,542 and the drones will develop a strategy for attacking 854 00:40:07,542 --> 00:40:10,917 and they can improvise within that overall strategy. 855 00:40:10,917 --> 00:40:14,375 All of this not being guided by human hands, 856 00:40:14,375 --> 00:40:16,583 but by artificial intelligence. 857 00:40:17,708 --> 00:40:19,583 - I don't know about you, but this sounds 858 00:40:19,583 --> 00:40:21,792 a lot like "The Terminator" to me, 859 00:40:21,792 --> 00:40:25,583 or the kind of science fiction you hope never becomes fact. 860 00:40:27,375 --> 00:40:28,958 - It's not that hard to imagine 861 00:40:28,958 --> 00:40:31,708 having your own private drone swarm army. 862 00:40:31,708 --> 00:40:33,542 If you've just had the technological means, 863 00:40:33,542 --> 00:40:36,542 you can use this powerful technology 864 00:40:36,542 --> 00:40:38,542 to do whatever you want. 865 00:40:38,542 --> 00:40:40,042 - [Dan] It leaves us wondering, 866 00:40:40,042 --> 00:40:43,583 is it possible to create something so powerful, 867 00:40:43,583 --> 00:40:48,375 so autonomous that we are no longer in control? 868 00:40:48,375 --> 00:40:51,125 - There will be a point where a drone swarm 869 00:40:51,125 --> 00:40:52,792 that has artificial intelligence 870 00:40:52,792 --> 00:40:54,917 will become smarter than we are. 871 00:40:54,917 --> 00:40:57,500 - We've armed these robots, we've taught them to think, 872 00:40:57,500 --> 00:40:59,000 we've taught them to work together. 873 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:02,250 What happens if they turn around and bite the hand that feeds it? 874 00:41:02,250 --> 00:41:05,208 - We might be releasing this artificial intelligence 875 00:41:05,208 --> 00:41:08,083 that will eventually turn on us, not as a result 876 00:41:08,083 --> 00:41:10,875 of some science fiction script or screenplay. 877 00:41:10,875 --> 00:41:13,250 It will kill whoever encounters it 878 00:41:13,250 --> 00:41:18,417 and we might be releasing, on ourselves, our own undoing. 879 00:41:18,417 --> 00:41:20,750 (suspenseful music) 880 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:28,167 - We've seen weapons that can stop the enemy 881 00:41:28,167 --> 00:41:32,042 through absolute destruction, freeze them in place, 882 00:41:32,042 --> 00:41:36,542 disable them with fear, even defect to a new home. 883 00:41:36,542 --> 00:41:39,708 If history repeats itself, as we know it often does, 884 00:41:39,708 --> 00:41:42,583 weapons of the future will be more than weird, 885 00:41:42,583 --> 00:41:44,208 they'll be unbelievable.