The 1950s were crazy times. Human experimentation in the US was normalized in a way that would make modern IRBs implode from shock. After the Soviets tested their first nuclear bomb in 1949, war planners in the US, both civilian and military, were interested in accelerating alternative and unorthodox methods of warfare, including and especially biological weapons.

White picket fences and Leave it to Beaver, indeed.

If you’re interested in this history, I’d recommend Nicholson Baker's Baseless or Leonard Cole's Clouds of Secrecy.

The latter describes various experiments that the army did starting in the 1950s that involved spraying tons of actual biological agents or proxies thereof on US cities in an attempt to measure the scale and dispersion of such agents were they to be unleashed on our enemies. Cities in the US were picked for physical and meteorological congruity to Soviet target cities; St. Louis was Leningrad [...]

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Outline:

(02:03) Zinc Cadmium Sulfide

(03:42) Osteoporosis

(04:56) Cooper et al., 1992

(08:33) Open Science

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First published:
June 20th, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/4PjjdW5qoTQgTHZCp/did-the-army-poison-a-bunch-of-women-in-minnesota

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

$Screenshot of an email requesting historical fracture data from 1950 onwards.$

Email message detailing access requirements and fees for Rochester Epidemiology Project data.

$Graph showing vertebral fracture rates for males and females (1950-1989).$

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“Did the Army Poison a Bunch of Women in Minnesota?” by rba

LessWrong (30+ Karma)