Carrots, death rays and passing ships. This is the origin story of the word radar

Members of the French Navy monitor radar in the control bridge in low light conditions during an anti-drug interception mission by the French surveillance frigate FS Ventose sailing off the French Caribbean island of Martinique, on November 16, 2024.

The nation's aviation infrastructure is again under scrutiny, following a series of paralyzing communications and radar outages at some of the country's busiest airports. Here is a look at the scientific origins of radar.

(Image credit: JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP via Getty Images)