RL Stun Raygun, ... with a "kill" switch? Options

[hermit]

Why? It only needs a sadist's mind. A person held in a cell cannot run away, and like the article said, the pain's supposed to be unbearable.

[Nikoli]

And as long as it's widely used and accepted, it's no longer unusual, and the Constitution requires cruel AND unusual...

[Arethusa]

But if we do it a lot, it's normal and therefore permissable!

[Nyxll]

I think the sonic weapon that Isreal uses was much more effective
Sound weapon link
and less likely for permanent damage.

[Clyde]

Or you could play Mariah Carey tapes until they talk . . .


Don't microwaves have some adverse reaction to metal? Like when you put a fork in with your leftovers and the thing goes haywire? What about all the zippers and buttons on peoples' clothes?

[Nikoli]

chances are, for the test they were erring on the side of caution rather than having a full blown field test as the volunteers would likely be sujected to the rays multiple times over the course of the day in various tests, so they were more likely to suffer extreme situations, where as field use targets would have a more limited exposure time, couple that with the point is to breakup and deter actions, localized hotspots, etc. are only going to make it more inticing to stop your actions and get the hell out of there.

[Herald of Verjig...]

If the product had reached a full production stage without any testing on populaces that mimic the variation that could be in a crowd, then there would be cause for some outrage. This article is like writing one about Microsoft not providing an intrinsic firewall in their test alpha for whatever their next OS will be called.

[Nikoli]

Who said it's going into mass use the day after the article? I'm sure they will test under stressful field conditions. They probably just said that while the reporters were there to appear concerned for the safety of the test subjects.

[ShadowDragon8685]

The thing about microwaves going hayware if there's a fork in it is because the microwave beams are refelcted off metal, into the magnetron (that's what it's really called, IIRC,) and they can mess it up. It shoulden't be a problem in a field situation, excepting that the metal might get very hot, very fast.

[Raygun]

[Arethusa]

I do. Apparently, no one even noticed, let alone found it amusing.

[Cynic project]

[Nikoli]

Who said maim, that device cannot main them outside of extrememly limited situations. It's far less likely to do so than rubber-rounds, fire hoses and police dogs are. You are right on one thing, there are many reasons to gather peacefully and protest activities. However we are talking about riot control. Riot, as in blind violence commited upon people and protperty through the mob mentality where many people are likely to be seriously injured, maimed or killed. Quelling a riot is not a peaceful process, ever. This device will likely only be used in extreme circumstances and is a hell of a lot nicer of a tool than traditional methods.

[Clyde]

Nikoli, any weapon can be misused. On the other hand, those inclined to handle rioters roughly usually have access to guns - which do work even faster than microwave energy for clearing out mobs. I could see Lone Star turning something like this on squatters in the Barrens and so forth. I could also see Troll Gangers heating up their Soy Dogs before opening up on Lone Star . . .

[Nikoli]

Fair enough, fictional setting, unrealistic uses. also, this this is designed to not cook the meat it hits, so heating a soy dog would be betgter served with a zippo than one of those rays.

And yes, LS might use this to roust out squatters from a building, but why would they even get called to do so. It's cheaper to pay some local street toughs to do it for you. Though I could see Doc Wagon using it to defend a patient in a not quite overly hostile situation, with the beams mounted like entry lights on their Ares Alphas.

[zephir]

A more frequent problem with metal in microwaves are strong magnetic fields at the corners. I do not recommend the experiment to you, but I've seen it in class: if you put forks and spoons in microwaves (this was not an ordinary household microwave), you can see which start melting first, and where.

This device will IMHO make non-violent protests like Ghandhi's very hard.

I wonder why whips have gone so far out of fashion, they have a good reach, do not inflict too much damage if cracked low, too. They hurt like hell though, and let people want to get out of their way fast. Perfect! :(

[Nikoli]

Why are you assuming a device like this would be used at a Non-violent protest rally?

It's not for breaking up protestors, it's for quelling riots.

[Crusher Bob]

You have a peaceful protest, then the soliders show up, with tanks... All fine and legal. Or at least, no one seemed to complain too much about it. It's not like the non-violent protesters in India were ever gunned down either

[Kyuhan]

Found this link, check it out:

http://www.americanscientist.org/template/...id/44522;_Jj3sn

[Nikoli]

--removed--
I had this nice little reply for Crusher Bob, but removed it.

Back to SR, somethign like this would likely require a will test vs power to resist or forcibly cease actions.

[Crusher Bob]

I suspect it might also adversley effect exposed cyberwear, rendering it inoperative for a few seconds. Or would most ware already come protected from surges, as stuff? Assuming the engineers of the future are on the ball, I'd guess that is just 'fuzzes' external ware when you are hit with the beam, so riggers and deckers who were decking or rigging when they were hit would probably be dumped.

Also, sitting in the metal frame of a car would protect you quite well from this weapon, though most cars in the 2070s might not have much metal in the frame.

[Herald of Verjig...]

2070, when your ass is steel and your car is plastic*.

*the full phrase was "when your ass is a reinforced steel titanium alloy and your car is primarily an organic-based polymer," but it didn't catch on outside of thoes two irritating cyberware designers whe work on the fifth floor