Spectral lines: Mixed signals

To a question posed by a news reporter during the presidential debate on Oct. 21, 1984, about whether to “share the best of America's technology in this weapons area with our principal adversary,” President Reagan replied, “Why not? I hope we can.” He was referring to the sophisticated technology for an unnamed defensive weapon to “reduce the utility” of nuclear arms, as he had phrased it during a press conference earlier in the year.