Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Microwave Ray Gun

New Scientist:

A US company claims it is ready to build a microwave ray gun able to beam sounds directly into people's heads.

The device – dubbed MEDUSA (Mob Excess Deterrent Using Silent Audio) – exploits the microwave audio effect, in which short microwave pulses rapidly heat tissue, causing a shockwave inside the skull that can be detected by the ears. A series of pulses can be transmitted to produce recognisable sounds.

The device is aimed for military or crowd-control applications, but may have other uses...