It sounds like something a wild-eyed basement-dweller would come up with, after adjusting the fit of his tinfoil hat. But military bureaucrats really are asking scientists to help them “degrade enemy performance” by attacking the brain’s “chemical pathway[s].” Late last month, the Air Force Research Laboratory’s 711th Human Performance Wing revamped a call for research... 

Arcing through the hazy air above California, this is the incredible sight of a scramjet as it flies at six times the speed of sound. The experimental aircraft set a record for hypersonic flight, blazing through the air for more than three minutes at Mach 6, or more than 4,500 mph. The X-51A Waverider scramjet was released from a B-52 bomber last week before its engine took it to Mach 6 and it flew...