YSK: The Invention Secrecy Act is a US federal law authorizing the government to suppress disclosure of certain inventions for reasons of national security. 6,543 inventions are currently suppressed.

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• cAUzapNEAGLb@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  secrecy orders have been imposed not only on inventions affecting military defense but also on those alleged to threaten economic stability, with critics noting that many such restrictions rest on speculative or unproven harms.

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  • Squizzy@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    In which case some rich cunt will patent it and nuke the internet of its details

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    • msage@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

      No.

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• mrductape@eviltoast.org ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Anyone want to bet that there are inventions that are great but would cost some people serious money and that’s why we’re not seeing them?

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  • Manjushri@piefed.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Not taking that bet. From the linked wikipedia page.

    According to reporting in Wired and Slate, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has at times considered applying secrecy orders to inventions deemed disruptive to established industries.

    You may be sure that there are times when they did more than consider it.

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• Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I mean, if some dude invented a neutron bomb in his garage, how would they know until it’s too late? 🤔

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• over_clox@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Oh good, apparently my late father’s Folding Crossbow isn’t a restricted patent…

  patents.google.com/patent/US4926834A/en

  I still posess the prototype, albeit a bit damaged now.

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  • Stamau123@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

    that’s cool. Seems a bit ‘busy’ for something that should be foldable

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• nulluser@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  6543 inventions are currently suppressed.

  Like what?

  /s

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  • Tylerdurdon@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Pills that actually make your wang the size of an elephant trunk while making it prehensile.

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  • thesohoriots@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Reticulated splines

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    • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Nonsense, Maxis did it for years

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  • Unlearned9545@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I wouldn’t be surprised if most of them have to do with rocketry or bioweapons and other things to make them work. I’ve designed things personally that are not destructive themselves but aid in testing or improving accuracy of hypersonic vehicles. The DOW (formerly DOD) did not allow us to apply for patents due to national security.

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  • GhostPain@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Successfully dividing by zero.

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  • homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    *lights lighting up on NSA dashboard*

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  • HeartyOfGlass@piefed.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    My flying boots, for one.

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• samus12345@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  “No.”

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  • dickalan@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Yes this video destroyed me and made me realize that any life-changing awesome invention would surely be suppressed

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• the_q@lemmy.zip ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Like an air cooled fiberglass engine that runs on water, man!?

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  • GhostPain@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Water? Brother that’s 50’s tech.

    We’re on to Cold Fusion reactors the size of your fist, SRO high-entropy alloys, and room temp superconductors.

    :D

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• Gladaed@feddit.org ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Literally does make sense. You don’t want the how to for building a good gyroscope out there(too much). Some bits and pieces are really hard to get working well. And when you do you get great ICBMs. Still might want to patent it.

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  • WoodScientist@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Yeah, let’s voluntarily lower the quality of all of our lives simply to give some minute advantage in the geopolitical chess game.

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    • Gladaed@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      You would not use those in consumer tech. They are only useful for spaceflight. Which necessarily includes weapons.

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  • Unlearned9545@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Yes, exactly. I used to design tools to test these and we weren’t allowed to patent them, but I think some of the high level concepts were secret patents though I can’t know that.

    For anyone wondering the thing ICBMs (and jet planes) use is called a gyroscope and gives the same output but it isn’t a “spinning top” gyro that you might be thinking of. Rather think super sensitive dynamo, or reversed motor. Tiny rotation turns into voltage signal.

    There is an even newer type that uses laser but I don’t know anything about it.

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