Electric shock weapons could go wireless (the Plasma-Taser!)

From New Scientist Online News ^ | 19:00 21 May 03 | By David Hambling

[vannrox]

A weapon that delivers a debilitating electric shock to its victim without the need for wires is being developed in Germany.

New Scientist has seen video stills of a prototype of the "Plasma-Taser" in action during firing-range tests. The pictures were shown at the European Symposium on Non-Lethal Weapons in Karlsruhe, Germany, two weeks ago.

In the first image, a spray of dark gas is seen approaching a human-sized target. In the next, taken a fraction of a second later, there is a lightning-like flash of electrical discharge intended to incapacitate the targeted person.

The Plasma-Taser, developed by defence company Rheinmetall W&M in Ratingen, is similar to the Taser weapon used by US police forces. In an ordinary Taser, a pair of darts are fired at a target from a distance of about seven metres, and a high-voltage electrical pulse is delivered through lightweight metal cables to the darts. The 50,000-volt electric shock stuns the intruder by temporarily shutting down their nervous system.

"Pain and spasms"

The Plasma-Taser will not need any wires because it fires an aerosol spray towards the target, which creates a conductive channel for a shock current, claims Rheinmetall. The company refused to comment on exactly how the weapon works, but it says the aerosol material is non-toxic.

Like Taser manufacturers, Rheinmetall describes the effects of its weapon as "pain and spasms". The advantage? A Taser is a single-shot weapon of limited range: the Plasma-Taser can fire repeated shots over greater range.

"It certainly looks shocking and intimidating," says Brian Rappert of the University of Nottingham, UK. "But there is a big difference between a lab demonstration and a working weapon. The history of non-lethals is littered with novel, widely praised but ill-conceived ideas."

Steve Wright of the Manchester-based Omega Foundation, which monitors non-lethal weapon technology, is concerned about the potential misuse of electric shock weapons. "Such new technologies enable systematic human rights abuses to be more automated, so that one operator can induce pain and paralysis on a mass scale," he says.

[vannrox]

Kewl..anyone have a picture?

[Snake65]

Plasma taser? Shouldn't they just call it the "phaser?"

Set phasers on fricassee...

[inkling]

Kewl..anyone have a picture?

[South40]

I used to have a problem keeping the neighbor's dogs out of my yard. Not any more.

[Bogey78O]

It would be a plaser.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Perhaps even a crowd-plaser.

[stboz]

Dark cloud. Graphite?

[longtermmemmory]

so if there is a good wind, or a man armed with a fan, the shooter can taser themselves.

[mikrofon]

They're out there .... out there

[joesnuffy]

Given advances in nanotechnology they should be able in a few years to make an implant
that gives your location to the authorities...reads your thoughts and reports you to the office of Pre-Crime....

The implant could deduct fines from your bank account....freeze your assests...lock you out of your house...garnishee your wages..lock you out of your office...your car..

It could even stop your car ....if you even thought of speeding...and report you to the police...or the car could just take you to the police station by taking control away from you and relinquishing control to the authorities...

A properly coded implant could punish you or reward you by stimulating pain or pleasure centers of the brain...it can mediate hormones or stimulate the heart..erase memories..change personality... etc etc etc..

[sigSEGV]

I heard about something similar a few years back, but it used a carbon-dioxide laser that ionized the air to the target just before an electrical shock was sent down the "wire".

[DB]

Along with getting zapped you get burnt...

[cinnathepoet]

NASA already has the "read your thoughts" thing down:

NASA hears words not yet spoken (Comes close to reading thoughts)

[GeronL]

I am sure it will be nicknamed the Phaser

[GeronL]

It will get that nickname!

[Jaysun]

I would love to have one of those. I currently use a regular taser in which you have to touch the victim with the end of the device. It's useful in making waiting lines shorter - but it's tricky not to draw suspicion........

WALMART: "Why did all of those people suddenly begin convulsing in a puddle of their own urine as soon as you walked past them?"

ME: "I dunno. Can we check out now, I'm in a bit of a hurry."