Word: foolproofing
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...system is not foolproof. Neither version will be able to spot a plane that does not carry at least a transponder, which indicates a plane's location to inquiring signals from the ground or another aircraft. But such planes are already forbidden to fly in busy air lanes near major cities. Adds Helms: "Sure, there is still a possibility of a collision, but the probability will be drastically reduced." Besides, allows the ex-Marine pilot, the only way to get 100% protection is "to ground all planes except one." Presumably, with Helms in the cockpit...
...Pentagon hopes to replace the Titan, Titan-Centaur and Atlas-Centaur boosters that have long been used to hurl military payloads like the Big Bird spy satellite into orbit. Such rockets are strictly one-shot throwaways, costly to use (up to $75 million a launch) and not entirely foolproof (5% of the launches have failed). For the military, the shuttle is a reliable new lift vehicle that can be employed again and again to put hardware into orbit. But it is much more than that. The Air Force has long dreamed of a permanent, manned orbital platform that could...
Even more worrisome is the Army's not so foolproof method of detecting cocaine use, which consists of descending on a unit without warning to administer urine tests on a spot basis. The tests are supposed to detect the presence of benzoylecgonine, a component of the drug. The system, like many an effective military operation, relies on surprise. Unfortunately, because of lax security in scheduling the tests, that element is not always present. Says one troubled officer: "In some places the troops find out through the grapevine about a urine test five days ahead of time...
...doctor once wired a plate of Jell-O in an intensive care unit and proved it was "alive"; the electrodes picked up impulses from equipment in the room. Says Plum: "EEGS are done more as a reassuring step to doctor and family than because they are any more foolproof than good clinical observation...
...stunning victory over Javits indicates, D'Amato is not an opponent to be taken lightly. The product of a tightly run Republican county organization--the most effective in the state--that uses sophisticated new polling techniques along with oldtime political muscle in its foolproof effort to turn out the faithful, D'Amato has not yet lost an election...