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| 2005/10/31-11/2 [Health/Eyes] UID:40366 Activity:nil |
10/31 PHaSRs on Stun Captain?
http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001911.html
\_ Fascinating (and cool), but doesn't that require some remarkable
marksmanship?
\_ You are thinking single target. This is crowd control. Think
mob. And you don't need to get everyone, just enough to deter.
Say 25% of the people up front. That'll cause a mass retreat.
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=104543&org=NSF&from=news |
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| www.defensetech.org/archives/001911.html this supposed pre ss release anywhere else on the web -- which is usually a bad sign. How could I resist posting about this all eged Air Force super-duper laser dazzler, especially when it's called PH aSR? A laser technology being developed by Air Force Research Laboratory empl oyees at Kirtland Air Force Base, NM will be the first man-portable, non-lethal deterrent weapon intended for protecting troops and controll ing hostile crowds. Directed Energy Directorat e, employs a two-wavelength laser system and is the first of its kind a s a hand-held, single-operator system for troop and perimeter defense. The laser light used in the weapon temporarily impairs aggressors by il luminating or "dazzling" individuals, removing their ability to see the laser source. ScorpWorks flight commander within the Laser Division of the directorate. ScorpWorks is a unit of military scientist s and engineers that develops laser system prototypes for AFRL, from be ginning concept to product field testing. National Institute of Justice recently awarded ScorpWorks $250,0 00 to make an advanced prototype that will add an eye-safe laser range finder into PHaSR. Systems such as PHaSR have historically been too pow erful at close ranges and ineffective but eye-safe at long ranges. THERE'S MORE: "A task force charged with studying potential directed ener gy threats to US military aircraft... Less-lethal Comments > OK, so now I can't see what was there a second ago, so what stops me from shooting at the blank spot? Did these guys ever hear of glasses that are made specifically to stop la ser light? Used by scientists and techs all over the world and readily a vailable... The cost and deployment of a weapon of this type will be significantly gr eater than the cost of overcoming it. Posted by: Troy at October 31, 2005 11:15 AM Military applications aside, this would be very useful to civilian police and security agencies doing crowd control. Posted by: robur at October 31, 2005 01:54 PM Confirmed... Noah Shachtman at October 31, 2005 02:03 PM These are not new. The US Army wanted to u se a few in Somolia but they were afraid that they would cause blindness . Posted by: jetsetter at October 31, 2005 05:21 PM Moral of the story, always wear your aviator MIRROR lenses sunglasses... Posted by: Jack Mkay at October 31, 2005 07:03 PM Stopping a high-class laser from damaging your eyes is not that easy. My laser lab has dozens of laser filter glasses by the door, one for each f requency of laser. This laser has two separate wavelengths, making simple filtration a bit p roblematic unless you have opaque glassed Stevie Wonder on the battlefie ld. The shutter-type googles are a bit expensive to carry around and if you h it them with repeating pulses, you are back with Stevie. Posted by: DocScience at October 31, 2005 09:15 PM Post a comment Name: Email Address: URL: Remember Me? Yes No Comments: Please enter the code as seen in the image below to post your comment. |
| www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=104543&org=NSF&from=news Physics Press Release 05-187 How Hot Tuna (and Some Sharks) Stay Warm Specialized muscles generate heat and swimming power Red muscle temperature of laminid sharks is greater than that of the surr ounding water. Lamnid sharks maintain an elevated temperature in the red muscle near the backbone. Credit and Larger Version October 27, 2005 Scientists now have direct evidence that the north Pacific salmon shark m aintains its red muscle (RM) at 68-86 degrees Fahrenheit , much warme r than the 47 F water in which it lives. The elevated muscle temperature presumably helps the salmon shark survive the cold waters of the north Pacific and take advantage of the abundant food supply there. The heat a lso appears to factor into the fish's impressive swimming ability. During what some would say was a better-than-average day at work, Robert Shadwick of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and his colleagues w ent salmon shark fishing in the Gulf of Alaska. After catching specimens over 7-feet long and weighing more than 300 pounds, the researchers mea sured temperatures throughout the sharks' bodies and tested the mechanic al power of RM samples. National Science Foundation (NSF) program manager, Ione Hunt von Herbing said, "Knowing specific details about the anatomy and physiology of salm on sharks provides key insight into their ability to produce such power and speed during swimming. The knowledge could translate into better des igns for underwater vehicles." The study was funded by NSF's integrative organismal biology program. Salmon sharks are lamnids, a group of sharks that also includes the mako and great white. Numerous studies have shown that lamnid sharks and tuna s share many anatomical and physiological specializations that endow the m with their impressive swimming power and speed. In contrast to other f ish where the RM is near the skin, the RM of these sharks and tunas is n ear the backbone. Even though the ancestors of bony tuna and cartilagino us sharks diverged more than 400 million years ago, selection pressure f or high-performance swimming in each group seems to have occurred indepe ndently about 50 million years ago. Throughout its life, a salmon shark never stops swimming because it will sink. The body heat generated from continuous swimming elevates the RM t emperature, which in turn, warms the surrounding white muscle and allows the shark to survive the frigid waters of the north Pacific. If a shark stops swimming, it could die from cold exposure. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 universities an d institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 40,000 competitive request s for funding, and makes about 11,000 new funding awards. The NSF also a wards over $200 million in professional and service contracts yearly. Receive official NSF news electronically through the e-mail delivery and notification system, MyNSF (formerly the Custom News Service). |