Improvised Explosive Devices, or IEDs, are a huge problem in Iraq and Afghanistan. How should the military take care of them without damaging any people or equipment? The new strategy: microwaves.
Yes, the same microwaves that made the Hot Pocket you had for lunch so piping-hot can also be used to detonate bombs from afar. By aiming a high-powered beam of microwave radiation at a bomb, it should be possible, in theory, to cause a bomb to explode.
Of course, this would require a pretty serious amount of energy, and they'd need to know where the bombs were ahead of time. Still, any way they have of taking care of these things without anyone getting hurt is OK with me.
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