A glimpse of our future.

[Lance]

One of the most fear-inducing things I've ever read:

Crowd-Controlling MEDUSA Ray Gun Puts Voices Inside Your Head

The Sierra Nevada Corporation claimed this week that it is ready to begin production on the MEDUSA, a damned scary ray gun that uses the "microwave audio effect" to implant sounds and perhaps even specific messages inside people's heads. Short for Mob Excess Deterrent Using Silent Audio, MEDUSA creates the audio effect with short microwave pulses. The pulses create a shockwave inside the skull that's detected by the ears, and basically makes you think you're going balls-to-the-wall batshit insane. The MEDUSA can also "produce recognizable sounds" and is aimed primarily at military uses, but New Scientist revealed there are other uses in the works, too.

And if you're thinking ear plugs are this thing's Kryptonite, think again. Lee Sadovnik of Sierra Nevada Corp. said normal audio safety limits are off the table since the sound bypasses the eardrums and emanates from within the skull. "The repel effect is a combination of loudness and the irritation factor," he said. "You can’t block it out."

Wet blanket James Lin of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Illinois in Chicago wants more testing done, however, because of the perceived health ramifications of such a device. Lin said lower, whisper-level intensities work fine, but the higher incapacitating levels expected by the military could fry more than a few brains out on the battlefield. "I would worry about what other health effects it is having," Lin said. "You might see neural damage."

And those "other uses" hinted at above? Try subliminal advertising; or suggestive subconscious comments that you don't really "hear" but can influence decision-making anyway. Or, alternatively, the beam can be ramped up to 11 and just kill you outright. WIN!

from Gizmodo. http://gizmodo.com/5022355/crowd+controlling-medusa-ray-gun-puts-voices-inside-your-head

[mdhay]

That shouldn't exist.

[omega329]

"Fun Gizmodo Fact: The MEDUSA is useless against a raging pack of schizophrenics."
I lol'ed...
However, I'd love to know how they get the microwave audio effect to work, a quick google shows no results about it...
Not that I'd want to build my own of course... :twisted
Besides, surely people would know what was there own voice, and somthing implanted in their head? and how would the person controlling the machine know how to maintain the suspension of disbelief?

[cybrpnk]

holy geebus...mind-control anyone???

this is where we all start to augment our brains and learn to shield them...for fear of brain-hacking ghost in the shell style...

seriously though...this SHOULD be illegal...

[The Gracer]

It would work for crowd control but not in military applications, surely it would be too easy for a prepared enemy to avoid, or even use against the assailant himself?

couldnt you have a circular concave sheild similar to a satellite dish that sent the microwave back toward the assailant? If you were smart, you could even have it focus at a certain point a certain distance away.....

Have i been watching too many cartoons?

Nevertheless, after being in a situation where i thought i was going 'batshit insane' this is not something i would like to be faced with. Ever.

Also, poor Medusa, having such a weapon named after her. :D

[eLhabib]

This is actually really worrying...

[Medusa]

Well well. I can produce recognizable sounds also, but try to refrain from driving people balls-to-the-wall batshit insane. That's too cruel even for me.:evil

"Two by two, hands of blue"?? Creeepyyy... It's been a lot of years since microwaves were harnessed, so it was only a matter of time. I'm still skeptical about the microwaves producing "audio" inside the brain, though. That's what scientific ignorance does to people. (Just look at Prime Minister Harper and global warming, for example.:))

This reminds me of the "microwave guns" that Time magazine wrote an article on a few years ago. The US army was supposed to be releasing them for combat - anyone hit with the microwave was literally cooked from the inside out. Utterly revolting. Although perhaps Hannibal Lecter would be a big fan.

I wonder if those microwave guns (and no I don't remember what their actual name was, lol) ever were sent out in regular combat?

[Lance]

couldnt you have a circular concave sheild similar to a satellite dish that sent the microwave back toward the assailant? If you were smart, you could even have it focus at a certain point a certain distance away.....

Also, poor Medusa, having such a weapon named after her. :D

I would hate to have to carry a concave shield to keep from buying the latest Toyota SUV at whatever price they wanted to charge.

Besides, how do I know where the transmitter/s is/are? If there's more than one, that shield is not going to work.

The original Medusa was far less nice than our Medusa; I suspect that the Sierra Nevada company was thinking of the Gorgonian original, who was a bit of a stoner. ;) :g

These puns are gonna get me killed one of these days. :D

[Medusa]

Stoner!! ROFL! You'll survive, Lance. Just keep looking at guys, and you'll be fine.

"...to keep from buying the latest Toyota SUV at whatever price they wanted to charge." Yeah, it's funny that most people do not think subliminal messaging is already being used, since that's been the main tactic of television advertising since it's inception. (Pretty musical jingle, shots of carefree and blissful living, "all because you bought this wonderfully soft brand of toilet paper!")

Originally Posted by The Gracer "...couldnt you have a circular concave sheild similar to a satellite dish that sent the microwave back toward the assailant? "

Picture a hat covered with mini satellite dishes pointing in various directions. Not pretty. It would like suction cups were glued to your head. I don't think the masses would flock to a revolution if they had to wear something like that? Maybe if it were a ceramic motorcycle helmet to absorb the microwaves.:brickwall I'd better start planning my self-defense...

[RJ O'Connell]

I'm surprised all the GooTube Truthers aren't up in arms about this. We're getting closer to the zany, ridiculous world of WipEout Fusion. Now fetch me a bottle of dried water.

[Medusa]

You mean ice? Hey, that would cool down a microwaved head pretty nicely. "Help, somebody get me a slushie!! I need a brain freeze now!"

*I'm really leaving now.*

[omega329]

It looks like those tinfoil hats might actually do somthing after all...

[RJ O'Connell]

You mean ice?
Not quite.

The old Wipeout Fusion site had a fake news release saying that a company called Aquax Dried Water would be the title sponsor of the F9000. You can even find one of their billboards in Wipeout 64 at Karbonis - er, Dyroness.

The funny thing is, dried water is a contradictory statement. XD

But as I say to discourage thread diversion, "That's another story, for another time." ;)

[Darkdrium777]

Maybe it's in pellets, and you've got to add water to hydrate it? :g

[Lance]

}offtopic{
Rather rhetorical question: What is in the pellets that would be hydrated to become pure water?
}end offtopic{

------

A full coverage steel helmet might be the appropriate shield. Only if you tried to return a coherent signal to its point of origin or to redirect it elsewhere would you need a parabolic shield/antenna.
A Faraday cage helmet would protect against some fairly large part of the microwave spectrum while permitting ventilation to keep your head cooler.

[Darkdrium777]

Rather impossible to answer. :brickwall

[Asayyeah]

i am for subliminal messages in only one circumstances : get those for TV commercials relating Wipeout HD :p

Seriously speaking, the world goes mad : Georges Orwell and its ' 1984' movie would appear such as a paradise compared to what i read in this thread about the future...

[RJ O'Connell]

Brave New World is also a relative paradise, although it's intentionally constructed as such, with its endless opportunities for leisure, promiscuous activity, and/or hotlapping Talon's Reach in under 16 seconds*.

*Not really.

[Rapier Racer]

Oh dear I don't like the sound of that! Sounds like something Microsoft would use it to strengthen their viral marketing campaign against the Playstation.

[mdhay]

}offtopic{
Rather rhetorical question: What is in the pellets that would be hydrated to become pure water?
.

Instant Water - Just add water.:)

//offtopic

[Lance]

Chemistry doesn't work that way.

[Quasi]

if you carried around a big aluminum dish as a shield, would that deflect the microwaves?:?

[omega329]

I know! it could be platinum! just add H2 and O2 for instant water! Pellets are reusable!

[rdmx]

... And where exactly are people going to get pure hydrogen?
'Through the electrolysis of water!' ;)

[omega329]

Any hydrocarbon would do, just make sure it all burns first!