Weird link here.

Is it even a plausible weapon? Wouldn't a creature who had every cell in their body instantly killed decay pretty quickly, seeing as that would render tham mush?

- Maha "Man, I gotta get myself one of these!" Vailo

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When you get down to it, Science answers how. Religion answers why. - hippietrekx

Short answer: No, not plausible.

That web page is incredibly confused. At one point it talks about a "scaler EM weapon" and at another point about a "particle beam weapon." It brings up Tesla (his supposed magical inventions - as opposed to his significant real contributions - have become almost as big a part of myth as fabled Atlantis).

You could conceivably build a (very bulky) gamma ray weapon that could kill people through irradiation. Or you could do something similar with neutron radiation (such as with enhanced radiation bombs). In both cases, you can shield against it, though it might require substantial shielding.

You certainly aren't going to have a simple ray gun. A nuclear weapon, that blows up like a typical (though low yield) nuclear bomb, sure, that can be done. Or you could kill somebody using an immensely bulky cobalt-60 gamma ray projector, if you could get them to sit still for you. It wouldn't be a practical weapon.

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I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?

Disclaimer: Avatar is not an official NASA image and does not imply any specific interplanetary or interstellar capability.

The Leif Ericson Cruiser

Well then, what's the worst a "ray gun" or particle beam weapon could do to a human being?

- Maha Vailo

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When you get down to it, Science answers how. Religion answers why. - hippietrekx

Assuming that you want it to be man portable and with technology that could be reasonably available I think that the worst you are looking at is either: A broad focus laser that produces third degree burns over any exposed parts of the body, second degree burns through clothing and generally sets anything inflammable on fire, though it wouldn't have much range and it would be a chemical laser which means carrying around very nasty stuff to fuel it. Or something along the lines of a more powerful version of the taser type weapons that work by using a laser to ionise the air to provide a path for a current that gives the target a heart attack rather than just stunning them.

I'm pretty sure that a man portable particle beam wouldn't be much use for anything, unless of course you stretch the definition until it fits a conventional gun, which IMO is going to out perform any man portable energy weapon for a good while yet except possibly for specialised roles.

You might be able to develop a weapon that looks a little like a large rocket launcher and have it spit out plasma, but I'm not sure it'd be very practical or effective really.

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Howling from the Shadows

It must be fun to lead a life completely unburdened by reality. --- JayUtah

You can't reason an irrational person out of an irrational belief. --- Noclevername

Apollo: The History and the Hoax
Enter the World of Athran

The worst thing a man-portable weapon could do is blind people. That takes relatively little energy. It's actually harder to burn through tissue than steel, because of all that water, so you aren't going to do that much damage that way. You might hurt some people a bit, but nothing compared to conventional weapons.

A radiation weapon not based on a nuclear bomb is going to be huge and have very limited range. (Edited to add clarification: That's in an atmosphere. A particle beam might go a reasonable distance in a vacuum. Good luck shooting at distance in the air!)

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I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?

Disclaimer: Avatar is not an official NASA image and does not imply any specific interplanetary or interstellar capability.

The Leif Ericson Cruiser

If it wasn't a "death ray" or a "scalar EM weapon" that the Russians used to make those Afghani soldiers die the way the article in the OP described, then what was it? Can a "scalar EM weapon" even be made?

- Maha Vailo

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When you get down to it, Science answers how. Religion answers why. - hippietrekx

Is there any evidence other than their claim that they did?

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Howling from the Shadows

It must be fun to lead a life completely unburdened by reality. --- JayUtah

You can't reason an irrational person out of an irrational belief. --- Noclevername

Apollo: The History and the Hoax
Enter the World of Athran

I suspect that the answer is nothing because they weren't killed as described, with the article being either made up entierly or based on misinterpreted reports/rumors.
First you have to tell us exactly what a "scalar EM weapon" is, the terminology is meaningless as it is.

What is the independent evidence that Afghani soldiers died in the way the article in the OP described?

This appears to be a technobabble term, so I would say no.

Edited to add:

Heh. Looking at the other posts almost makes you think there is an echo in here.

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I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?

Disclaimer: Avatar is not an official NASA image and does not imply any specific interplanetary or interstellar capability.

The Leif Ericson Cruiser

Consider the source. A discredited site and a disavowed movement within a non-scientific base proposing an implausible effect based on no known principle of nature. I think I might have a problem with the credibility of this.

On the other hand... do miracles have a scientific basis?

/me removes tongue from cheek now.

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Where is Jonathan Swift when we need him?

I could kill someone with a Ray gun.

The hard part would be convincing Ray to let me load him into it.

Or it could shoot high velocity stingrays. Everyone now knows they can be pretty deadly.

I could kill someone with a Ray gun.

I could too, the hard part would be getting them to stand still while I beat them with it.

__________________
Howling from the Shadows

It must be fun to lead a life completely unburdened by reality. --- JayUtah

You can't reason an irrational person out of an irrational belief. --- Noclevername

Apollo: The History and the Hoax
Enter the World of Athran

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"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

I always liked that one. It also points out one of the problems of such a man-portable weapon - power source. The one in the cartoon is plugged into the wall outlet.

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

I have no idea what a 'scalar EM weapon' is, the only time I can remember seeing anything like that mentioned was in a lurid newspaper article back in the late 1980's/early 1990's that spoke of 'scalar mortars' (...whatever they were... )and had claims of 'nuclear explosions' with no radiation or other signs (Shades of the 'nuke the WTC' stories), it also tried to link the Soviet 'woodpecker' OTH radar project with weather control! (A little more information can be found here.)

Mind you I can also remember seeing mention of the 'woodpecker' on a TV show in the early 1980's or late '70s, there was some sort of secret weapon claim made then, but after all this time I cannot remember what it was.

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We all know those Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

John Sladek, The New Apocrypha, pg 34.

Maybe it was this woodpecker (demonstrating the weapon's self-destruct mode).

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

And when it disintegrates, brother, it disintegrates.

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"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

There a few direct energy weapons being worked on, but currently none are man portable.

Most actually are intended to disable rather than kill, but a number have applications that could be lethal.

Still years away from man portable.

So how big is