Chicken-based technologies

Little known outside specialized fields, technological advances have been made only through use of the chicken, Gallus gallus. Some uses, indeed, have been classified information.

Nuclear weapons
British nuclear weapons designers on the Blue Peacock project faced the challenge of the electrical circuitry, of atomic demolition munitions (ADM) to be emplaced in West Germany against a potential Soviet invasion, becoming too chilled to operate. One proposal put dedicated chickens into the bomb housing, to generate the needed heat.

Sentinels against disease
Chicken flocks are used in a number of "sentinel" application, especially for the early detection of viral diseases. "Sentinel chicken flock The California Department of Health Services, together with several vector control districts, maintains an active "earlywarning" program to help detect the presence of encephalitis virus. In the San Francisco Bay Area counties, they have placed 15 sentinal chicken flocks of 10 birds each. If antibodies appear in the blood of the chickens, it shows they were recently bitten by infected mosquitoes. "

Australia used sentinel chickens to detect SARS.

Chicken cannon
Bird strikes can bring down aircraft, especially if ingested by jet engines. Aviation manufacturers and research institutions do safety tests by flinging, usually with compressed gas, chicken carcasses into target aircraft; a number of improvements have been made to improve aircraft resistance.

Nevertheless, the reality has grown over time. A persistent story addresses a high-speed train manufacturer that wanted to evaluate the dangers of bird strikes. Obtaining a "chicken cannon" from an aerospace firm, they tested it, and were shocked by the utter devastation. Consulting with the cannon's manufacturer, they allegedly were advised, "first, thaw the chicken."