Posted on 03/03/2005 3:20:24 AM PST by snarks_when_bored
Maximum pain is aim of new US weapon
* 19:00 02 March 2005
* Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition
* David Hambling
The US military is funding development of a weapon that delivers a bout of excruciating pain from up to 2 kilometres away. Intended for use against rioters, it is meant to leave victims unharmed. But pain researchers are furious that work aimed at controlling pain has been used to develop a weapon. And they fear that the technology will be used for torture.
"I am deeply concerned about the ethical aspects of this research," says Andrew Rice, a consultant in pain medicine at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, UK. "Even if the use of temporary severe pain can be justified as a restraining measure, which I do not believe it can, the long-term physical and psychological effects are unknown."
The research came to light in documents unearthed by the Sunshine Project, an organisation based in Texas and in Hamburg, Germany, that exposes biological weapons research. The papers were released under the US's Freedom of Information Act.
One document, a research contract between the Office of Naval Research and the University of Florida in Gainsville, US, is entitled "Sensory consequences of electromagnetic pulses emitted by laser induced plasmas".
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.
Pain trigger
According to a 2003 review of non-lethal weapons by the US Naval Studies Board, which advises the navy and marine corps, PEPs produced "pain and temporary paralysis" in tests on animals. This appears to be the result of an electromagnetic pulse produced by the expanding plasma which triggers impulses in nerve cells.
The new study, which runs until July and will be carried out with researchers at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, aims to optimise this effect. The idea is to work out how to generate a pulse which triggers pain neurons without damaging tissue.
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.
Long-term risk
New Scientist contacted two researchers working on the project. Martin Richardson, a laser expert at the University of Central Florida, US, refused to comment. Brian Cooper, an expert in dental pain at the University of Florida, distanced himself from the work, saying "I don't have anything interesting to convey. I was just providing some background for the group." His name appears on a public list of the university's research projects next to the $500,000-plus grant.
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."
Amanda Williams, a clinical psychologist at University College London, fears that victims risk long-term harm. "Persistent pain can result from a range of supposedly non-destructive stimuli which nevertheless change the functioning of the nervous system," she says. She is concerned that studies of cultured cells will fall short of demonstrating a safe level for a plasma burst. "They cannot tell us about the pain and psychological consequences of such a painful experience."
On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate such a pain?
Very funny.
I was thinking of some kind of sleeping agent.
A little pain is WAY BETTER than dead....
Chavez down in Venezuela probably has his eye on this one.
A very tiny plasma burst is used.
U.S. Constitution, 8th Amendment: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
This weapons inflicts cruel and unusual punishment on people, both riots and innocent pass-standers for a TWO KM range.
And what happens if a terrorist gets their hands on this weapon and turns is on a major city.
Unless I mention a foreign country, I am always talking about America.
Tactical to Practical and a Modern Marvels show featured this very weapon last summer. This is not something new and it has been public for quite some time. Sounds like that group is trying to get some publicity and funding by trying to appear like they have diligently uncovered something really new and menacing from the BUSH administration.
BTW....the B&D types that infest the porno regions probably will be the first civilian users.
Thank you for the essential post on this subject...
And are you telling me that if we did have a riot that Hillary Clinton would let the fact that the rioters were a bunch of Democrats deter her from "trying it out"?
I used Chavez as an example since he's been in the news for firing on a demonstration his own party organized. There's really no difference between him and your typical Liberal anyway ~ think of Robert Byrd.
Someday, if things go right, both of them will be living on the beach in South Florida. May that time come soon.
If the plasma burst were small enough to not cause a burn, would the charge carried be large enough to cause pain?
Where is a physicist when we need one!
"I am deeply concerned about the ethical aspects of this research," says Andrew Rice, a consultant in pain medicine at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, UK. "Even if the use of temporary severe pain can be justified as a restraining measure, which I do not believe it can, the long-term physical and psychological effects are unknown."
would rice be upset at folks jumping out of windows during 9.11?
Unlike your microwave in the kitchen, the device is highly directional and generates a precise wavelength tuned to excite pain receptors in human skin. It does not penetrate deeply though and does not have sufficient energy to heat the skin appreciably. Only the pain receptors are affected.
Plasma Rifle in the 40 watt range.
See Chinese sex torture thread.
Didn't you read this article, this weapon can hurt people up to 2km away, far from any riot zone.
As to a terrorist using this as a weapon against a large crowd, give me a break. Terrorists want to KILL PEOPLE not make them uncomfortable.
Terrorists don't want to just kill people, but hurt as many of them as well.
This weapon can literally torture tens of thousands of people at once, it's the perfect terror weapon for both terrorist and tyrants because it can be used to hurt large masses of people over and over again to beat them into submission with pain and the fear of more pain.
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