<HTML>NewScientist.com newsletter, 3 March 2005
Welcome to the New Scientist newsletter, which this week reveals the
energy-pulse weapon designed to inflict maximum pain from a distance...
EDITOR'S CHOICE:
THE PAIN MAXIMISER
The US military is funding development of an energy-pulse weapon,
designed to deliver a jolt of excruciating pain from up to 2
kilometres away. Intended for use against rioters, it is meant to
leave victims physically unharmed. The device fires a laser pulse
that generates a burst of expanding plasma when it hits something
solid, like a person, producing pain and temporary paralysis. Right
now, researchers are attempting to optimise "pulse parameters to
evoke peak nociceptor activation" or, to put it in plain English,
cause the maximum pain possible. The potential for abuse of such a
device have not gone unremarked...MORE
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www.newscientist.com];
