Chaff is the seed casings and other inedible plant matter harvested with cereal grains such as wheat. The chaff must be separated from the grain before use, by such techniques as threshing and wind winnowing. The word "Chaff" is also used to refer to something worthless, such as in the expression "separating the wheat from the chaff", meaning to find things of value and separate them from things of no value. Cereal crops are mostly grasses cultivated for their edible seeds (actually a fruit called a grain, technically a caryopsis). ... Species T. boeoticum T. durum T. monococcum T. spelta References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09-22 Wheat (Triticum spp. ... The thrashing machine, or, in modern spelling, threshing machine, was a machine invented by Scottish mechanical engineer Andrew Meikle for use in agriculture. ... Wind winnowing is a method developed by ancient cultures for agricultural purposes. ...

Chaff is also an anti-radar technique in which aircraft or other targets spread a cloud of small, thin bits of aluminum or plastic, which appears as a cluster of secondary targets on radar screens. Devised for the USAF by the American scientist Fred Whipple (according to Harvard Gazette Archives), chaff was first used by bombers during World War II to confuse enemy radar, at the time it was called 'Window'. This long range radar antenna (approximately 40m (130ft) in diameter) rotates on a track to observe activities near the horizon. ... General Name, Symbol, Number aluminium, Al, 13 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 13 (IIIA), 3, p Density, Hardness 2700 kg/m3, 2. ... The term plastics covers a range of synthetic or semi-synthetic polymerization products. ... Fred Lawrence Whipple (November 5, 1906–August 30, 2004) was an American astronomer. ... Harvard, see Harvard (disambiguation) Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and a member of the Ivy League. ... A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping bombs. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km (over 11 miles) into the air, August 9, 1945 after the Allied atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. ... This long range radar antenna (approximately 40m (130ft) in diameter) rotates on a track to observe activities near the horizon. ...

Modern armed forces use chaff (often deployed with short-ranged SRBOC rockets) to distract radar-guided missiles from their targets. Most military aircraft and warships have chaff dispensing systems for self-defense. The Mark 36 Super Rapid Bloom Offboard Countermeasures (abbreviated as SRBOC or Super-RBOC) is a short-range rocket intended to launch chaff within the vicinity of naval vessels, with the purpose of foiling anti-shipping missiles. ... A missile (British English: miss-isle; U.S. English: missl) is, in general, a projectile—that is, something thrown or otherwise propelled. ...

An intercontinental ballistic missile may release in its midcourse phase several independent warheads, a large number of decoys, and chaff. A Minuteman III missile soars after a test launch. ... A decoy is usually a person, device or event meant as a distraction to conceal what an individual or a group might be looking for. ...