Fractional CTO: Some small companies benefit from the senior experience of these kinds of executives but don’t have the money or the need to hire one full time. A fraction of the time they are C suite for various companies.

Yes, exactly. I used to design tools to test these and we weren’t allowed to patent them, but I think some of the high level concepts were secret patents though I can’t know that.

For anyone wondering the thing ICBMs (and jet planes) use is called a gyroscope and gives the same output but it isn’t a “spinning top” gyro that you might be thinking of. Rather think super sensitive dynamo, or reversed motor. Tiny rotation turns into voltage signal.

There is an even newer type that uses laser but I don’t know anything about it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if most of them have to do with rocketry or bioweapons and other things to make them work. I’ve designed things personally that are not destructive themselves but aid in testing or improving accuracy of hypersonic vehicles. The DOW (formerly DOD) did not allow us to apply for patents due to national security.

The mental health workers I know are overworked over stressed and making the same or less money as they were 5 years ago.