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Found this article on military.com about a new non-lethal weapon they have developed.Military Shows Off New Ray Gun How long has microwave technology been used in weapons? Also, I was doing a little research on this and found out this one actually uses milliwave (?) technology. Does anyone know the difference?PS Wish I had one of these to install on my SUV for that anti-war demonstration in DC over the weekend.
Tesla would be proud to see such technology being developed. We will probably make more fantastic weapons in the near future that even Gene Roddenberry or Isaac Asimov could have envisioned.
The story is pretty interesting. Still, it begs some questions – if people start knowing what to expect (and know it's not painful), won't they just start ignoring the sensation if it's happening to them? Also, you just know that someone's gonna start using it to play pranks on people….
Can the sensation be ignored? I would imagine this is just as bad as a taser. It's only use militarily is to make them drop the weapon and give troops enough time to control the situation.Only downfall I see (read about) is, since the temperature is only 130 degrees, it may not be as effective in desert areas where people are used to that type of heat.
Well, the article said that there was no pain involved – I'm guessing it might just be a “sensation”. If this is so, perhaps people could ignore it. Then again, you can't really ignore an itch even though it's not really “painful”. Interestingly enough I read an article yesterday about how the Pentagon is considering another weapon - artificial ice than can thwart the enemy.http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070130/tc_afp/usmilitaryweapons_070130150451
I saw this story in a Drudge link. Pretty cool stuff:Be More Than You Can Be
Heat-resistant. Cold-proof. Tireless. Tomorrow?s soldiers are just like today?s ? only better. Inside the Pentagon?s human enhancement project.
Tells of some interesting DARPA projects that we may see on the battlefield in the near future.
Back to the future ! ?Space-time cloak? to conceal events !A study by researchers from Imperial College London involving a new class of materials called metamaterials, which can be artificially engineered to distort light or sound waves.http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_16-11-2010-9-5-43
I was going to say that I would like to see this in action in the real world, rather than just in a laboratory. But then I realized I might have seen it in action already and just not have known it. 😉
I would not put too much faith in news articles hyping new or developing weapons technology. Having worked acquisition for a few years, I will tell you that the military looks at many more weapons than it ultimately buys and even once it buys them it takes a while for the process to work. As to non-lethal stuff, it is only good for certain, very limited situations and will never be bought in mass. The primary business of the military is still killing people and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
