Chaff (/ˈtʃæf/ or /ˈtʃɑːf/) is the dry, scaly protective casings of the seeds of cereal grain, or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material such as scaly parts of flowers, or finely chopped straw. Chaff is indigestible by humans, but livestock can eat it and in agriculture it is used as livestock fodder, or is a waste material ploughed into the soil or burnt.
"Chaff" comes from Middle English chaf, from Old English ceaf, related to Old High German cheva, "husk".
In grasses (including cereals such as rice, barley, oats and wheat), the ripe seed is surrounded by thin, dry, scaly bracts (called glumes, lemmas and paleas), forming a dry husk (or hull) around the grain. Once it is removed it is often referred to as chaff.
In wild cereals and in the primitive domesticated einkorn,emmer and spelt wheats, the husks enclose each seed tightly. Before the grain can be used, the husks must be removed.
The process of loosening the chaff from the grain so as to remove it is called threshing – traditionally done by milling or pounding. Separating remaining loose chaff from the grain is called winnowing – traditionally done by repeatedly tossing the grain up into a light wind which gradually blows the lighter chaff away. This method typically utilizes a broad, plate-shaped basket or similar receptacle to hold and collect the winnowed grain as it falls back down.
Chaff was the students' newspaper of Massey University Students' Association (MUSA) at the Turitea campus of Massey University, New Zealand. Chaff was established in 1934 as a semi-regular, type-written newsletter for students of Massey Agricultural College. As throughout its 79-year run it mixed local news with comment, humour, competitions and correspondence.
After 15 years of erratic publication (partially due to reduced student numbers during World War II), the paper roared fully into life in 1959, thanks to the efforts of student Kevin. F. O'Connor. This professionally printed, regularly produced A4 magazine (1949-1955)/A3 newspaper (1955-), supported by outside advertising and grants from the Massey Student Association(s,) continued until a combination of factors - including administrative disinterest and major legislative changes to Association funding - meant Chaff published its last issue in October 2011.
It has been replaced with MASSIVE Magazine, based in Wellington and published monthly, with 2-3 pages each per issue given to news and events on the Palmerston North and Albany Massey campuses.
Chaff, originally called Window by the British, and Düppel by the Second World War era German Luftwaffe (from the Berlin suburb where it was first developed), is a radar countermeasure in which aircraft or other targets spread a cloud of small, thin pieces of aluminium, metallized glass fibre or plastic, which either appears as a cluster of primary targets on radar screens or swamps the screen with multiple returns.
Modern armed forces use chaff (in naval applications, for instance, using short-range SRBOC rockets) to distract radar-guided missiles from their targets. Most military aircraft and warships have chaff dispensing systems for self-defense. An intercontinental ballistic missile may release in its midcourse phase several independent warheads as well as penetration aids such as decoy balloons and chaff.
The idea of using chaff developed independently in the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States.
In 1937, British researcher Gerald Touch (who was working with Robert Watson-Watt on radar) suggested that lengths of wire suspended from balloons or parachutes might overwhelm a radar system with false echoes and R. V. Jones had suggested that pieces of metal foil falling through the air might do the same.
These guys can't be punk-rock
They sing about love and Brendan says they're not
But they've got egos this big,
I bet that their Mothers got them this gig-
Because this is the anti-song
Everybody sing along. This is the anti-song
How could I ever be wrong?
Those guys aren't like me
I hate that band because they're not PC
But they won't get too far,