Quote: "At their best, blogs tell you something you didn’t know, in the same way you learn something from an interesting person you meet at a party." - Carl Zimmer
Videos: Machinima channel on YouTube - kind of like MST3K for gaming.
Recently enjoyed reading: The Great Influenza - John Barry
Currently reading: Emerging Viruses - Stephen S. Morse, ed.
Recently enjoyed listening to: Solar Powered People and Boards of Canada
Recently enjoyed watching, AGAIN: Hellboy II
Upcoming Events, See U There:
26th Army Science Conference
SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing 2009
5th European Symposium on Non-Lethal Weapons
Science Daily News Feed New Scientist News on KurzweilAI.net BGG’s Pandora America’s Finest News Source
Millimeter-wave weapon certified for use in Iraq. Seen on slashdot and Nuke.
The ADS is a millimeter-wave weapon that uses a reportedly non-lethal energy beam to inflict short-term pain on its targets, encouraging them to leave an area.
Yes, it’s very encouraging. Test videos show volunteers hopping around quite enthusiastically. (Original article at Wired.)
Filed under: military, technology
I have mixed feeling about “non-lethal” weapons. On the one hand, obviously not blowing people up is a good thing. On the other hand, such research is predicated on the idea that if we just build the right weapons, we can solve our domestic and international “problems.” The nanny state personified. There are no technological solutions to political and social problems.
JMO
Doug
[BGG: While I may have different ideas about the characteristics of a nanny state (I think of the nanny state as the natural creation of the left, while these types of weapons tend to be far more appealing to the right), I think that there are important points being made by naysayers who believe nonlethal weapons (used at home) would dramatically shift the balance of power in favor of a growing police state. It's one thing to use these technologies as military tools in overseas conflicts against potentially very dangerous actors; it's another thing to imagine these being used here by state and local law enforcement or the National Guard. Normally I pay no attention to what I consider the constant "whining" of people who basically make a career of it (and I in NO way mean to indicate your comment here as I consider yours a valid point), but in this case I have to admit that even a blind pig finds an acorn now and then!]
All Things Considered: June 13, 2005
http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=4701588
[BGG: An interesting story on the acoustic "Scream" weapon, another nonlethal system that would strongly encourage people to "disperse." Thanks!]