Riot control ray gun worries scientistsI'm thinking that's actually a plus! Mount a big loudspeaker and play Metallica. When the Metallica stops and a man loudly suggests that you remove your glasses, pants with metallic zippers, heart pacemakers and any plates in your head, you know you're in the soup — literally!
Scientists are questioning the safety of a Star Wars-style riot control ray gun due to be deployed in Iraq next year.
The Active Denial System weapon, classified as "less lethal" by the Pentagon, fires a 95GHz microwave beam at rioters to cause heating and intolerable pain in less than five seconds.
The discomfort is designed to prompt people caught in the microwave beam to move away from it, thereby allowing riot-control personnel to break up and manage a crowd.
But New Scientist magazine reported Wednesday that during tests carried out at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, participants playing the part of rioters were told to remove glasses and contact lenses to protect their eyes.
Say what you will, this will never replace the 1911!
OTOH, we're talking the most useful picnic accessory since the portable refrigerator!
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