Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request some US military research concerning Pulsed Energy Projectiles (PEPs) has recently come to light. A
research contract between the Office of Naval Research and the University of Florida in Gainsville concerns the development of a weapon that can
deliver a blast of excruciating pain from 2 kilometers away (1.25 miles).
www.newscientist.com
It concerns so-called Pulsed Energy Projectiles (PEPs), which fire a laser pulse that generates a burst of expanding plasma when it hits something
solid, like a person (New Scientist print edition, 12 October 2002). The weapon, destined for use in 2007, could literally knock rioters off their
feet.
The contract, heavily censored before release, asks researchers to look for "optimal pulse parameters to evoke peak nociceptor activation" - in
other words, cause the maximum pain possible. Studies on cells grown in the lab will identify how much pain can be inflicted on someone before causing
injury or death.
John Wood of University College London, UK, an expert in how the brain perceives pain, says the researchers involved in the project should face
censure. "It could be used for torture," he says, "the [researchers] must be aware of this."
Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
Thanks to the
Sunshine Project we know about the development of this new "crowd control" weapon.
I have heard of microwave weapons used to generate heat on the surface of the skin at a distance and I also heard some eyewitness accounts of
demonstrators in Florida (don't remember the occasion) reporting about tazer like weapons mounted on trucks and used on the crowd.
Let me guess... some of you think this kind of research is a great idea.
Too me, it looks like another way to cattle-prod we citizens into submission is about to be unleashed upon us. Go quietly into those concentration
camps or you will either be cooked, shocked or receive "maximum" pain, not to mention its potential use for torture.
Just look at how trigger happy police have become with a "non-lethal" option like tazers. What will they do with something like this?
"Hey Jim watch me make that (insert derogative term here) squirm in pain from six blocks away!.. he.. he...hee!"
What happened to good old non-lethal tear gas and sticks?
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[edit on 3/2/2005 by Gools]