Run away the ray-gun is coming : We test US army's new secret weapon

[Renew Deal]

By MICHAEL HANLON

"Where do I put my finger? There ... OK? Nothing's happening ... is it on?"

"Yes, it's on. Move your finger a bit closer."

"Er ... ow! OW!" Not good. I try again. "OWWW!" I pull my hand away sharpish. My finger is throbbing, but seems undamaged.

I was told people can take it for a second, maximum. No way, not for a wimp like me.

I try it again. It is a bit like touching a red-hot wire, but there is no heat, only the sensation of heat. There is no burn mark or blister.

Its makers claim this infernal machine is the modern face of warfare. It has a nice, friendly sounding name, Silent Guardian.

I am told not to call it a ray-gun, though that is precisely what it is (the term "pain gun" is maybe better, but I suppose they would like that even less).

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=482560

[acmavm]

1. Modern technology seem to be being used exclusively

for finding ways to hurt or kill people in the most efficient manner. Oh yeah, and for finding ways that more technology can be crammed into a little box and carried around with you.

[JohnyCanuck]

2. You can bet your bottom dollar at some point it will be used for torture.

Perhaps the most alarming prospect is that such machines would make efficient torture instruments.

They are quick, clean, cheap, easy to use and, most importantly, leave no marks. What would happen if they fell into the hands of unscrupulous nations where torture is not unknown?

The agony the Raytheon gun inflicts is probably equal to anything in a torture chamber - these waves are tuned to a frequency exactly designed to stimulate the pain nerves.

I couldn't hold my finger next to the device for more than a fraction of a second. I could make the pain stop, but what if my finger had been strapped to the machine?

Dr John Wood, a biologist at UCL and an expert in the way the brain perceives pain, is horrified by the new pain weapons.

"They are so obviously useful as torture instruments," he says.

"It is ethically dubious to say they are useful for crowd control when they will obviously be used by unscrupulous people for torture."

We use the word "medieval" as shorthand for brutality. The truth is that new technology makes racks look benign.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=482560

[3waygeek]

3. 10 will get you 20 that it's already being used

in places like Gitmo & Abu Ghraib.