Sarin, also known as 'nerve agent Gas B' is an organophosphate molecule that acts on the nervous system of mammals, much like many other similar molecules commonly sold for household consumption act to kill insects.

Discovered in 1938 by German chemists Schrader, Ambros, Rüdiger and Van der Linde (from which it derives its name), Sarin became a standard chemical weapon during the Cold War, produced and stockpiled in large quantities by both sides of the conflict until the late 1970s.

Its most notorious use however, was made by Saddam Hussein in Iraq the 1980's, during the war against Iran but also during the infamous Halabja poison gas attack to terrorise the rebellious Kurdish rural population.

The demonstration test in the video was performed by the US Army in Utah, in 1962.