Scientists at NASA built a gun specifically for launching dead chickens at the windshields of civilian airplanes, jet fighters and the space shuttle, all travelling at maximum velocity. The idea was to simulate the frequent collisions with airborne fowl and to test the strength of the windshields in such situations. British engineers heard about the special gun and were eager to test it on the windshields of their new high-speed trains. So it was arranged that one of the guns should be sent to the British engineers. When the gun was fired, the British engineers stood shocked as the chicken hurtled out of the barrel, crashed through the supposedly shatterproof shield, smashing it to pieces, blasted through the control console, snapped the engineer's backrest in two and embedded itself in a wall. The horrified British sent NASA the disastrous results of the experiment, along with the designs of the windshield, and begged the US scientists for suggestions. NASA responded with a one-line memo: "Thaw the chicken." ESKIMOS