There’s a new stun gun called the X12. And it’s pretty much a freeze ray without the ice.
Arrr. There be gadgety plunder in this here story. According to legend, a company from the United Kingdom be using MP3 players to deter pirates from stealing their ships and making their cap’n walk the plank. Gone be the days of a grand old sword fight between seamen and pirates, it seems. Instead, the seamen be usin’ something by the name of LRAD, which be standin’ for “Long Range Acoustic Device”, which blasts out warnin’ messages at the Jolly Roger. And while it won’t be sendin’ you down to see Davey Jones, it will be causin’ ya a great deal of pain if ya be gettin’ to within a couple of hundred metres of the seaman’s ship. Arrr. If ya be gettin’ any closer than that, you be losin’ your hearin’ for good. An’ no self-respectin’ pirate be wantin’ that, now, do they?
If ya be doubtin’ the power of the humble MP3 player, know dis: the LRAD anti-piracy device be used last week against some Somali pirates off the coast of Yemen. Got within’ 600 metres or so, they did, before they pointed there guns in the air and attacked another ship. Now I know what ye be thinkin’: How do I get me hands on one of them there LRAD devices. Well, you can be hirin’ a team of ex-military goons to be usin it for you for 14,000 pounds for three days. But that be plenty of time to plunder plenty of ships, methinks. Arrr.
[Agence France-Presse via PopSci]
Actually, it’s more like set to “ouch”: a UK government report has revealed the police are testing out non-lethal weapons. These include low-powered lasers which hit a miscreant’s skin and burn off the outer layer, “leaving them in agony, but with no permanent damage,” which sounds lovely doesn’t it?
This week’s New Yorker (yep, you heard me right) has a cool piece on the development of non-lethal weapons for military and police. You can tell the writer, Alec Wilkinson, had a good time reporting it. The story focuses on Charles Heal, a badass part-time Marine and part-time LA Sheriff’s Department officer known in some circles as “Mr. Non-Lethal Weapons.” As a product evaluator and consultant, Heal has helped create about 25 different non-lethal weapons, including:
