Those Musicians Are Up To Something

Late composer George Antheil is at the heart of one of the most unusual tales of celebrity service:

At a dinner party given by Janet Gaynor, George Antheil met Hedy Lamarr. Shortly after this meeting, Lamarr and Antheil invented and patented a secret communications system, U.S. Patent 2,292,387. The patent was applied for June 10, 1941, and received August 11th, 1942. The purpose of the system was to provide reliable and jam proof control of long range torpedoes. The system involved the use of the frequency hopping principles of Spread Spectrum radio. However it was 20 years before it was put to effective use by the United States Navy in torpedo guidance systems, and 40 years before it was permitted by the FCC to be used in commercial radios. Among other things, Spread Spectrum forms the basic principle that allows the use of simultaneous multi-channel operation used in modern digital cellular telephone systems. Spread spectrum is the basis for the communications security of the strategic $25 billion MILSAT Defense communications system.

Now, rock guitarist "Skunk" Baxter serves as an adviser for the U.S. Department of Defense:

As a member of the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan, and as a session guitarist for Carly Simon, Bryan Adams, Ringo Starr and many others, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter has been a clandestine rock and roll hero since the '70s. Now, as a specialist in terrorism, missile defense and chemical and biological warfare, he's also a covert hero for the U.S. military.

He's currently working for the Department of Defense as an adviser to the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and has also served as a top military adviser for numerous congressmen and senators.

And country singer Clint Black talks about rocket science:

"Did you know my guitar is like a rocket?" he asks.

Show-business exaggeration? No. It's scientific fact. Black's guitar is like a rocket.

"They both resonate," explains aerospace engineer Rodney Rocha of NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston.

"When you pick up an acoustic guitar," Black demonstrates, "one of the first things you'll notice is the body is basically an air chamber. The shape of the chamber is designed to be 'in tune' with the sound from the strings." He plucks the E string and the body of the guitar vibrates, producing "sympathetic" E-frequencies of its own.

What are the odds on Britney Spears having a missile silo under her swimming pool?