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| Home Front: Tech |
| Pentagon Tests Out Laser Guns |
| 2004-08-10 |
| A few months from now, Peter Anthony Schlesinger hopes to zap a laser beam at a couple of chickens or other animals in a cage a few dozen yards away. If all goes as planned, the chickens will be frozen in mid-cluck, their leg and wing muscles paralyzed by an electrical charge created by the beam, even as their heart and lungs function normally. Among those most interested in the outcome will be officials at the Pentagon, who helped fund Schlesinger's work and are looking at this type of device to do a lot more than just zap the cluck out of a chicken. I'll take two |
| Posted by:2% |
| #10 Stun my ass, advance lasers to deep fat fry. |
| Posted by: Spaceman Spiff 2004-08-10 19:05 |
| #9 I would love to sneak one of these into a work meeting. "I have the report of your productivity leve--ZZZAAAAAPPP!!!--" There are days that I would love to just sit back and watch the boss twitch. |
| Posted by: 2% 2004-08-10 18:29 |
| #8 I always knew the Pentagon had the Moonraker laser hidden somewhere! |
| Posted by: The Doctor 2004-08-10 18:19 |
| #7 An ultraviolet laser ionizes the air in the path of the beam This was one of the principal methods investigated for ground based anti-satellite DEWs. Tunneling through the atmosphere proved to be a major obstacle in delivering collimated wattage to an orbital target. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-08-10 17:30 |
| #6 The article is not very clear, but several mechanisms are discussed. The one by HSV appears to be a technique that was first reported several years ago. An ultraviolet laser ionizes the air in the path of the beam, forming a conducting path for a high voltage charge like that put out by a Taser. |
| Posted by: virginian 2004-08-10 16:32 |
| #5 If all goes as planned, the chickens will be frozen in mid-cluck, their leg and wing muscles paralyzed by an electrical charge created by the beam, even as their heart and lungs function normally. I can think of a couple of "chickens" that I would love to see this used on. |
| Posted by: 2% 2004-08-10 16:20 |
| #4 No problem, 2%. Technology is what won the Cold War and is what will help America defeat jihadist terrorism. It's always good to keep everyone informed about updates to America's arsenal. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-08-10 16:17 |
| #3 Apologize for the repost. Didnt see the article before. |
| Posted by: 2% 2004-08-10 16:12 |
| #2 The article's title is misleading. I posted this same piece several days ago. A laser is used to pump a microwave source whose directed energy is used to interfere with neural signaling, thereby paralysing a combatant. Used in a wider broadcast pattern and different frequency, the sensation of extreme heat on the epidermis is available as well. Both of these represent excellent crowd control methods. I look forward to a time when our soldiers arrive at the field of battle with weapons so effective and horrible that a majority of foes will flee in terror before firing a single shot. I want America's enemies to die in such a gruesome fashion that pure fear will stop them from attacking us. However much I detest inhumanity, I refuse to let America fall victim to a bunch of psychopathic brutes who seek to impose theocracy upon this world. Kill them fast or kill them slow, whatever kills them all. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-08-10 15:59 |
| #1 Scotty! Phasers on stun! |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-08-10 15:38 |