Centrifugal weapon could deliver stealth firepower

New Scientist ^ | 5/11/05 | Will Knight

[Smokin' Joe]

High tech low tech. The same principle as the sling that brought down Goliath.

[LIConFem]

Wouldn't precession make it difficult to aim quickly?

[avg_freeper]

"Wouldn't precession make it difficult to aim quickly?"

Perpendicular to the plane of rotation absolutely.

[LIConFem]

I wonder how the inventor will solve the problem. A counter-rotating gyro, perhaps (smaller, but of the same mass)?

[William Terrell]

Anything that requires electrical energy to operate, that cannot charge its own battery, is dangerous on a field of battle.

[avg_freeper]

I wonder how the inventor will solve the problem.

Probably by simply betting that he can convince others that gyroscopic forces don't exist and that they're just a silly figment of our imagination.

[LIConFem]

That particular philosophy has worked for a certain political party here in the U.S. for many years now.

[avg_freeper]

so true

It seems that most of what politicians do (dem and rep included) necessitates them first discharging us of the "burden" of our common sense.

[antisocial]

"Ball bearings are notoriously inaccurate, any round object is."

How accurate do you have to be when the target area is saturated with 150,000 rounds per sec.?

[Cboldt]

A former co-worker of mine who is a brilliant engineer described a similar idea to me a number of times. I guess he should have gone for a patent.

David, of David and Goliath fame, used a sling based on the same principle.

Wandering off to find the US Patent ....

[Cboldt]

A former co-worker of mine who is a brilliant engineer described a similar idea to me a number of times. I guess he should have gone for a patent.

David, of David and Goliath fame, used a sling based on the same principle.

Wandering off to find the US Patent ....

U.S. Patent 6,520,169 - Weapon for centrifugal propulsion of projectiles
U.S. Patent 6,520,169 <-- Click Here

Lots of cited prior art, including U.S. Patent No. 1049 to McCarty, which issued in December 1838.

[Centurion2000]

Interesting, Leo Frankowski used the exact same principle to give the Polish steam powered machineguns against the Mongols in 1240 in his Crosstime Engineer series.

[LibWhacker]

Yeah, I scratched my head over that, too. I'm guessing it's "stealthy" in the sense that it's relatively quiet in comparison to a gun.

[tang-soo]

okay, I'll buy that.

[MeanWestTexan]

You know, the KGB (or its assigns) used the same basic design as a golf ball to shoot poison projectiles out of umbrellas.

There is also a "cheater" golf ball that has the divits only on the sides --- the result is a ball that corrects a slice (or equivalent) in flight.

[MeanWestTexan]

"By sides" I mean, leaving the "equiator" area smooth.

[conservonator]

I'm gonna' need some pliers, and a set of 30 weight ball bearings

What kind of antifreeze ya' need?

[righttackle44]

Ball bearings take all the character out of western movies:

"Save the last ball-bearing for yourself."

"Gonna have to ride to the fort for more ball bearings."

"Stand to, troopers! Them Indians're firing ball bearings 'stead o' arrows."

[numberonepal]

Witness the evolution of the golf ball.

I just got a vision of the old guys "scuffing" up their old featheries. At the time the featheries were very expensive.

[IronJack]

Call me dense, but if you compare this to a sling (which someone has, by the way), where is the "recoil" on a sling when the projectile is released?