BRILLIANT PEBBLES

plural noun Also written Brilliant Pebbles (War and Weaponry) A code-name for small computerized heat-seeking missiles designed to intercept and destroy enemy weapons; part of the US Strategic Defense Initiative (or Star Wars). Also, the technology used to produce these. Etymology: One of a series of names making a word-play out of the idea of smart weaponry. The largest, heaviest, and least intelligent weapons (see intelligent°) were spoken about by scientists as moronic mountains, smaller and more intelligent ones as smart rocks (a term coined by SDI chief scientist Gerald Yonas: see smart), and yet smaller and smarter ones as brilliant pebbles; a fourth category in the series was savant sand. History and Usage: Brilliant pebbles were the idea of US scientist Lowell Wood, who proposed in 1988 that existing smart-rocks technology could simply be 'shrunk' to smaller weapons. Work then started on developing brilliant pebbles in place of the space-based interceptor originally planned for Star Wars. Their brilliance is explained by the fact that each would carry a microchip frozen to superconducting temperatures and as powerful as a supercomputer. The SDI organization has funded assembly of brilliant pebbles hardware at the laboratory, and tests to demonstrate the concept are planned in the near future. Aviation Week 11 July 1988, p. 37 The Pentagon has been pushing the smart rocks, while Congress has been championing the ground-based missiles. Mr Edward Teller advocates 'brilliant pebbles'. Economist 4 Feb. 1989, p. 44