Any knowledgeable comments on the Pentagon's Ray Gun shown on 60 Minutes last night? The science, the engineering, the future?

I've read about it for several years. I thought the 60 Minutes piece was ok, but it was kind of old news. I think it is pretty neat technology, and I thought the idea of using it for fixed facility security (like around embassies or in prisons) was a good idea.

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

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009

Could any sort of reflective material re-direct the 'ray'?

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Didn't see it, which ray gun was it about?

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"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Illuminati's Razor-The most complicatedly evil answer is usually the most correct answer. - Fazor
"Every book is a children's book if the kid can read." - Mitch Hedberg
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

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Oh, the pain ray. Neat idea, I think. As for shielding, a Faraday cage should do it, no?

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Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

On the 60 Minutes report they had the reporter demonstrate being hit with the beam and with him using various objects to try to shield himself. He started with a sheet of cardboard, which was pretty close to no help. He then tried a bed mattress - it actually helped quite a lot. But then you have to carry a mattress around with you! And keep in mind, the gun was half a mile from the target. So you would have a protester approaching a military installation (for example) from a half a mile away carrying a mattress.

It seems to me that a determined person could still defeat this weapon if they really tried to. Its main intention is more for things like riot control, from a distance, with non-lethal force.

One of the people they talked to was the LAPD's experts about non-lethal force. He said that a big problem is that most of the tools currently available only work at short ranges, maybe 100 yards or less. So the cop or the soldier has to be actually pretty close to the target and is much more vulnerable. Since they are much more vulnerable, they have to switch to lethal force that much sooner. He was very excited about this weapon.

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

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009

One of the people they talked to was the LAPD's experts about non-lethal force. He said that a big problem is that most of the tools currently available only work at short ranges, maybe 100 yards or less. So the cop or the soldier has to be actually pretty close to the target and is much more vulnerable. Since they are much more vulnerable, they have to switch to lethal force that much sooner.

That's a serious problem with many non-lethal devices - long before you're close enough to use them, you're in range of inexpensive lethal devices such as guns. If this thing has a half-mile range, it might be useful for prison riots as well as for site defense.

That was mentioned in the 60 Minutes piece. I personally thought that fixed installations might be the first/best use of this device - in prisions (court yards, cafeterias), around embassies, etc.

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

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009

One of the things I noticed was that he was still getting tagged in the feet occasionally even with the mattress. I also noticed that they never really tried a determined resistance. Someone hopped up on adrenaline would prolly stay in the beam to the point of injury.

This was one of the few good 60 minutes articles I have seen in quite a while, tho I think they should try to get into the pentagon's face alot more. This system should be deployed for testing. If not in Iraq, then give it to a prison that has disipline problems. DoD shouldnt be allowed to bury this just cause some pinhead dosent realize its the 21st century.

Oh, that. Yeah, I saw a TV report where a test subject used a small mattress as a shield, worked pretty well. But even in the exposed body tests, the subjects I saw sure didn't look like they were in incapacitating pain, more like moderate sunburn pain.

__________________
"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Illuminati's Razor-The most complicatedly evil answer is usually the most correct answer. - Fazor
"Every book is a children's book if the kid can read." - Mitch Hedberg
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

This has intriguing ramifications for non-lethal crowd control, but I wonder if it can still be effective if the "threats" are approaching at multiple directions or even surrounding a building (embassy under seige scenario).

This would seem to only be effective against a distinct target, and if it causes the target to disperse into many smaller targets, that could be a problem.

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Dude, don't be a Quaid!

Based on what was shown, I doubt it would provide enough protection from truly dedicated attackers. Like, say, the fanatical suicide bombers the military is actually facing.

__________________
"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Illuminati's Razor-The most complicatedly evil answer is usually the most correct answer. - Fazor
"Every book is a children's book if the kid can read." - Mitch Hedberg
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

I think I said the same thing several posts back. But I don't think that is the intent.

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

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009

Couldn't you protect yourself with clothes of metal mesh or articulated metal plate or even foil or a handheld shield of the same?

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"What you think you thought you saw you did not see." Agent J, MiB - Manhatten Bureau

I think that's a good question and I would have liked to see a demonstration of that. I suspect part of the problem with metal clothes would be that any uncovered skin would not be protected.

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

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009

A Faraday suit?

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Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

Sounds like a good weapon to me.

In terms of innocent civilians though:

"The system uses millimeter waves, which can penetrate only 1/64th of an inch of skin, just enough to cause discomfort."

What about eyes? They sound very sure there is no lasting damage, but, ...

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Measure once. Cut twice. Power tools are fun.

I don't remember the details from the CBS program, but they did discuss that and have found no damage from the short exposures involved (literally a few seconds).

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

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009

A cross between chain mail and a bee-keeper's suit.

BTW, the millimeter microwaves are supposed to be blocked by glass, so perhaps spectacle-wearers will not have any eye problems.

Hmm, fiberglass suits?

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"What you think you thought you saw you did not see." Agent J, MiB - Manhatten Bureau