[89996] in Cypherpunks
Re: Fwd: Set Phasers to Stun.
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Steve Schear)
Fri Nov 14 03:28:20 1997
In-Reply-To: <v04002736b090e9185a7c@[139.167.130.248]>
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 1997 21:33:57 -0800
To: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>, cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
From: Steve Schear <schear@lvdi.net>
Reply-To: Steve Schear <schear@lvdi.net>
>One attempt to overcome the limitations of tasers uses a stream of
>liquid that hits a victim with a 10 000-volt charge. This causes painful
>muscle spasms in the victim. But the liquid can split into droplets,
>breaking the electrical connection, and is hard to aim. Herr's invention
>uses lasers to generate intense beams of ultraviolet light.
>
>These create a path of ionised air down which precisely modulated
>electrical current is sent. The currents can be manipulated to cause
>painful contractions, stun a victim painlessly, or induce a heart
>attack. It has a far longer range than the taser-over 100 metres-and the
>beam can penetrate clothing. The phaser can also fire many shots before
>it needs reloading.
>
>Using ultraviolet light avoids legal restrictions on weapons that blind
>with laser light, since it would take several minutes to damage the
>retina with the wavelength of light used by the device.
>
>A hand-held version of the phaser is not yet available because the
>argon-fluoride discharge-pumped excimer laser it uses is as big as a
>kitchen table. Herr is hoping that others will find ways to make his
>device smaller and more powerful, as well as improve its range. He says
>that any technically competent person would be able to build a phaser.
I can't fathom why the PTO issued the patent. This technology is well known=
in military circles (I'm sure I saw an article in Aviation Leak and Space=
Technology about this a few years back) for downing planes and even=
missiles.=20
A shortcoming of the proposed approach, as noted above, is the size and cost=
for such lasers. However, if one assumes that some portions of the system=
are single use, like cartridges and bullets in firearms, it might be=
possible to safely employ small explosive charges to pump a laser (either=
an excimer or FEL, free electron laser), either chemically or electrically.=
See : http://www.cdsar.af.mil/kopp/apjemp.html
--Steve
PGP mail preferred, see http://www.pgp.com and
http://web.mit.edu/network/pgp.html
RSA fingerprint: FE90 1A95 9DEA 8D61 812E CCA9 A44A FBA9
RSA key: http://keys.pgp.com:11371/pks/lookup?op=3Dindex&search=3D0x55C78B0D
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Schear | tel: (702) 658-2654
CEO | fax: (702) 658-2673
Lammar Laboratories |
7075 West Gowan Road |
Suite 2148 |
Las Vegas, NV 89129 | Internet: schear@lvdi.net
---------------------------------------------------------------------
