US army toys with telepathic ray gun

[Atomic_Piggy]

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn13513-us-army-toyed-with-telepathic-ray-gun.html

A recently declassified US Army report on the biological effects of non-lethal weapons reveals outlandish plans for "ray gun" devices, which would cause artificial fevers or beam voices into people's heads.

The report titled "Bioeffects Of Selected Nonlethal Weapons" was released under the US Freedom of Information Act and is available on this website (pdf). The DoD has confirmed to New Scientist that it released the documents, which detail five different "maturing non-lethal technologies" using microwaves, lasers and sound.

Released by US Army Intelligence and Security Command at Fort Meade, Maryland, US, the 1998 report gives an overview of what was then the state of the art in directed energy weapons for crowd control and other applications.
A word in your ear

Some of the technologies are conceptual, such as an electromagnetic pulse that causes a seizure like those experienced by people with epilepsy. Other ideas, like a microwave gun to "beam" words directly into people's ears, have been tested. It is claimed that the so-called "Frey Effect" ? using close-range microwaves to produce audible sounds in a person's ears ? has been used to project the spoken numbers 1 to 10 across a lab to volunteers'.

In 2004 the US Navy funded research into using the Frey effect to project sound that caused "discomfort" into the ears of crowds.

The report also discusses a microwave weapon able to produce a disabling "artificial fever" by heating a person's body. While tests of the idea are not mentioned, the report notes that the necessary equipment "is available today". It adds that while it would take at least fifteen minutes to achieve the desired "fever" effect, it could be used to incapacitate people for almost "any desired period consistent with safety."

Less exotic technologies discussed include laser dazzlers and a sound source loud enough to disturb the sense of balance. Both have been realised in the years since the report was written. The US army uses laser dazzlers in Iraq, while the Long Range Acoustic Device has military and civilian users, and has been used on one occasion to repel pirates off Somalia.

However, the report does not mention any trials of weapons for producing artificial fever or seizures, or beaming voices into people's heads.
Potentially torturous

Steve Wright, a security expert at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK, warns that the technologies described could be used for torture. In 1998 the European Parliament passed a motion banning potentially dangerous incapacitating technologies that interfere with the human brain.

"The epileptic seizure inducing device is grossly irresponsible and should never be fielded," says Steve Wright "We know from similar [chemically] artificially-induced fits that the victim subsequently remains "potentiated" and may spontaneously suffer epileptic fits again after the initial attack."

The acoustic energy device that affects the ear canals, disrupting the motion sense, may require dangerously loud sound levels to be effective, points out Juergen Altmann, a physicist at Dortmund University, Germany, who is interested in new military technologies.

 

[Beerdude26]

So if there's ray guns, maybe there are ray shields?

/me calls Samon

 

[Azner]

And this is going to be used on what type of people?

 

[jverne]

And this is going to be used on what type of people?

the evil and dangerous American liberals

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Brainscorcher. On all who wish to find the Monolith.

 

[CyberPitz]

I think this is just stupid. I hate the US Government so much when they do th--

OH MY GOD, GET OUT OF MY HEAD! THE ANTS ARE TALKING TO MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

 

[VirusType2]

Why don't they just blast, "Now That's What I Call Music - Volume 5" at incredible volume.

That will render them retarded.


U.S. Army [Acme] 'Rick Roll' Prototype Device.


An earlier Army project for skiing in Iraq:

http://petcaretips.net/Wylie_Ski.jpg

 

[Beerdude26]

An earlier Army project for skiing in Iraq:

http://petcaretips.net/Wylie_Ski.jpg

I wish I was able to have such awesome insights

 

[Wanted Bob]

Haha, I'd love a skiing device like that

 

[Saturos]

Microwave and seizure inducing "non-lethal" weapon technology is a bad idea for local state law enforcement imo. Expect lots of lawsuits against the state(s) that employ such technologies in the future if they go into service due to studies confirming that these new "non-lethal" weapons have caused cancer in the person(s) they will be used on. :| Hopefully they won't be used for local law enforcment though.

For military applications against terrorists however...

I do like the idea of rickrolling terrorists in their fortified bases though. The U.S. Marine Corps have done it in the past.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

All you need is a psy-helmet prototype.

 

[McGooTheWise]

I want a raygun like that, I'd use it on myself. Maybe on a cage full of monkeys... Then they would go nuts and i would take over the world with 6 monkeys. 6 MONKEYS! COUNT EM! THEY'RE IN THE WHITE HOUSE AS WE SPEAK! HAHAHAHAHA!

 

[Krynn72]

I thought this thread was going to be about US Army action figures with telepathic ray guns.



I want my money back.

 

[McGooTheWise]

I thought this thread was going to be about US Army action figures with telepathic ray guns.



I want my money back.

It is.

It's G.I. Joe Mind Control! Just press the button and immediately his enemies will be crawling on the floor, eating their own excriment!

Vietnam Toy - "It's from hell! FROM HELL!"

G.I. Joe - "I'm kid friendly, and also come with a choking hazard!"

Only use under adult supervision, preferably keep a doctor on hand. Talking toys sold separately.

See?

 

[TimoJay]

What a waste of time.

Think bats.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_bomb

 

[Wanted Bob]

Hahaha, imagine if we had used bat bombs instead of the atomic bombs