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."
Only one problem - use of this sort of weapon will just fuel the abuse/torture crowd.
You just have to get it - nothing we do is going to satisfy the anti-American world.
The New Scientist is trying to make this seem like some expose only recently unearthed through the diligent efforts of activists using FOIA, while I've been reading for a few years about the efforts to make these kinds of non-lethal weapons. This type of information has been out in the public for a while.
You shoot him with a non-non-lethal weapon.
This is not a joking matter.
Such a weapon would need to be focussed, and would require a significant power source. Moreover, it would be a sitting duck for an attack by stand-off missile. Only a well-protected agent/agency (police, military) could use such a weapon effectively for any extended length of time. Hence the idea that terrorists are going to get any mileage out of it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
Let me give you a scenario that maybe will cause you to rethink:
It is 2011. President Hillary Clinton (God forbid) is way down in the polls.
Due to her incompetent leadership America is more vulnerable to terrorist attack than it has ever been.
The Clintonistas stage a massive terrorist attack on a midwestern city. The Clintons declare marshal law and the left takes control.
Now, given the prickliness the left has with shooting protestors, will President for Life Clinton have an easier time supressing mobs with bullets or a long-range pain infliction device?
Once a weapon gets built, everybody gets one.
I sounds to me more like a MASER than a LASER.
After wading through a lot of garbage I think I found the answer. I found one that uses the energy to quickly vaporize water on the skin – causing an intense feeling of heat, but not actually causing a burn.
What am I missing here? When armies and cops fight wars and mobs, aren't they allowed to use things that actually deter the misbehavers from inflicting more harm on the good guys? And isn't the threat of that deterrent just as important as actually using it?
I mean, come on, the next thing you know we'll be making barb wire without the barbs!
Nahhh. A Greenie. Trust me on this one...
If we don't laugh at them the terrorists will have won.
This is great - no more problems with the unruly demonstrations like pro-lifers or anti-war. And we can eliminate abuse of the Miranda laws, the Fifth Amendment and need for the lenghty trials. All accused to plead guilty in no time!
And it is perfectly legal since "only organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death constitute torture"
America will become a very ordered place. Even more with the other countries which will be glad to follow American lead. Well spent taxpayers money!
The Constitution is an old XVIII century document. We live in another times when there is War on Terror and War on Drugs. We face many annoying troublemakers who disobey the government and many suspects who refuse to admit guilt. Besides it will be very enjoyable to see the vermin squirm.
Non-lethal means of control will serve as the foundation for an authoritarian state. The State can use the means of repression without fear that the deaths it causes will create resentment and revolution.
Ya think it is legal to use on animals?
....?
Good Question.
?What's a animal?
/abortion?
/British State Religion of Darwinist Evolution....
/sarcasm
Thanks for the ping!
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