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

Blogged with the Flock Browser

On top of everything else, lan problems!

2007 and now 2008 have not been easy years for the small Pacific nation of Fiji. Between a coup and ensuing political turmoil, an economic down turn driven by a drop in tourism visits, a couple of cyclones, occasional flooding, corrupt officials, home invasions, drownings, road deaths, typhoid, and water and power cuts; things have been challenging. And now, I sit down in front of my computer, open up the Fiji Times web site to read that, on top of everything else, we now have "lan problems"!

[Fiji Times, February 25, 2008]

One can only hope that the "meaningful dialogue" succeeds so that we can all get back to WoW and SL in order to escape reality.

Blogged with Flock