Hedy Lamarr's beauty and screen presence made her one of the most popular actresses of the 1930s and 40s, but many are unaware of her extraordinary genius which led to numerous inventions. Researcher Bill Birnes joined guest host Ian Punnett to delve into the technological contributions of Lamarr and how her inventions helped revolutionize modern communications.
Birnes described Lamarr as a brilliant woman who was obsessive about her ideas. One such concept outlined spread spectrum technology, also called frequency hopping, for use in a secure radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes during WWII. This idea ultimately contributed to the development of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, he revealed. Birnes credited Lamarr with the design of swept wings, which she recommended to Howard Hughes to make his planes more aerodynamic and faster. He reported on one of Lamarr's lesser-known inventions - an instant fizzy soda cube which could be used to make soda anywhere from ordinary tap water.
Birnes commented on recent UFO stories. Regarding the cigar-shaped object spotted floating over the Nazca Lines he said, "I couldn't help thinking that it looked more like a cloud than it did an actual craft." It's motionless and UFOs usually hover for reason, he added. Birnes explained why the Tic Tac UFO case is so fascinating, noting the disruption of the surface of the water indicative of a propulsion mechanism, as well as how the pilots and their commanding officers seem to treat the sighting as an ordinary occurrence, or at least one that is common for them. He also suggested the Overton window (ideas tolerated in public discourse) has led to UFO research being shunned by academia.
The final half hour of the show was devoted to Open Lines.