Microwave ray gun controls crowds with noise

A US company claims it is ready to build a microwave ray gun able to beam sounds directly into people's heads.The device – dubbed MEDUSA (Mob Excess Deterrent Using Silent Audio) – exploits the microwave audio effect, in which short microwave pulses rapidly heat tissue, causing a shockwave inside the skull that can be detected by the ears. A series of pulses can be transmitted to produce recognisable sounds.The device is aimed for military or crowd-control applications, but may have other uses.
[Microwave ray gun controls crowds with noise New Scientist Tech, July 3, 2008]

Two thoughts on this story: 1.) I'm no physicist, but I think my foil hat might actually protect against this one - seriously; and 2.) Could this be put to good use in Fiji? "Oi! Jone, Ise, Prakash! Put down the bilo and go home to your wives so that I can go to sleep!" "Did you hear that?" "Hear what?"

Photo by: nicmcphee

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