The Department of Mad Scientists

So, this is a little off topic, I know. There isn't an ingredient pictured above. There isn't a recipe posted below. But there is a science lesson to be learned. I just finished reading a book called The Department of Mad Scientists by Michael Belfiore. It is a peak inside the understated and top secret world of DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration). I was first introduced into the world of DARPA while I was working on Capitol Hill and it is probably the coolest thing ever. It is a branch of the defense department that funds the research necessary to get pure science (lab and university stuff) into applied science (3M and your store shelf). This is the most expensive step in the innovation process and is known as the Valley of Death. Very few new technologies are able to overcome this gap. No one works for DARPA for more than a few years by design, but they have come up with some of the coolest stuff from the rocket that got us to the moon, to artificial hands that work like the real thing, to the internet, to a computer that learns what you want instead of you learning how to use it. It might be the most important government department you've never heard of and it proves how important science and technology really are to our everyday lives. Check it out and be amazed!