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Thread: Military Developing Weapon to Create "Maximum Pain"

  1. #1
    RZ Chamber of Commerce Unassisted's Avatar
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    Military Developing Weapon to Create "Maximum Pain"

    http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7077
    Maximum pain is aim of new US weapon


    • 19:00 02 March 2005
    • Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition
    • David Hambling
    The US military is funding development of a weapon that delivers a bout of excruciating pain from up to 2 kilometres away. Intended for use against rioters, it is meant to leave victims unharmed. But pain researchers are furious that work aimed at controlling pain has been used to develop a weapon. And they fear that the technology will be used for torture.

    "I am deeply concerned about the ethical aspects of this research," says Andrew Rice, a consultant in pain medicine at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, UK. "Even if the use of temporary severe pain can be justified as a restraining measure, which I do not believe it can, the long-term physical and psychological effects are unknown."

    The research came to light in documents unearthed by the Sunshine Project, an organisation based in Texas and in Hamburg, Germany, that exposes biological weapons research. The papers were released under the US's Freedom of Information Act.

    One document, a research contract between the Office of Naval Research and the University of Florida in Gainesville, US, is entitled "Sensory consequences of electromagnetic pulses emitted by laser induced plasmas".

    It concerns so-called Pulsed Energy Projectiles (PEPs), which fire a laser pulse that generates a burst of expanding plasma when it hits something solid, like a person (New Scientist print edition, 12 October 2002). The weapon, destined for use in 2007, could literally knock rioters off their feet.

    Pain trigger

    According to a 2003 review of non-lethal weapons by the US Naval Studies Board, which advises the navy and marine corps, PEPs produced "pain and temporary paralysis" in tests on animals. This appears to be the result of an electromagnetic pulse produced by the expanding plasma which triggers impulses in nerve cells.

    The new study, which runs until July and will be carried out with researchers at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, aims to optimise this effect. The idea is to work out how to generate a pulse which triggers pain neurons without damaging tissue.

    The contract, heavily censored before release, asks researchers to look for "optimal pulse parameters to evoke peak nociceptor activation" - in other words, cause the maximum pain possible. Studies on cells grown in the lab will identify how much pain can be inflicted on someone before causing injury or death.

    Long-term risk

    New Scientist contacted two researchers working on the project. Martin Richardson, a laser expert at the University of Central Florida, US, refused to comment. Brian Cooper, an expert in dental pain at the University of Florida, distanced himself from the work, saying "I don't have anything interesting to convey. I was just providing some background for the group." His name appears on a public list of the university's research projects next to the $500,000-plus grant.

    John Wood of University College London, UK, an expert in how the brain perceives pain, says the researchers involved in the project should face censure. "It could be used for torture," he says, "the [researchers] must be aware of this."

    Amanda Williams, a clinical psychologist at University College London, fears that victims risk long-term harm. "Persistent pain can result from a range of supposedly non-destructive stimuli which nevertheless change the functioning of the nervous system," she says. She is concerned that studies of cultured cells will fall short of demonstrating a safe level for a plasma burst. "They cannot tell us about the pain and psychological consequences of such a painful experience."
    /r/reds


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  3. #2
    I rig polls REDREAD's Avatar
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    Re: Military Developing Weapon to Create "Maximum Pain"

    Well, this is one medical experiment I'm not signing up for

    Seems like it's worth investigating though. I'm not sure what the outrage is about. Just about anything could be used for torture.
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    Churlish Johnny Footstool's Avatar
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    Re: Military Developing Weapon to Create "Maximum Pain"

    A weapon that causes pain without physical injury seems pretty humane to me. Much better than something that could melt your retinas, liquify your bones, and irradiate the earth for thousands of years.

    The flip side is, if they are developing a weapon to target pain receptors, it would be just as easy (if not easier) to create a drug that nullifies those same receptors.
    "I prefer books and movies where the conflict isn't of the extreme cannibal apocalypse variety I guess." Redsfaithful

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    Big Red Machine RedsBaron's Avatar
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    Re: Military Developing Weapon to Create "Maximum Pain"

    Quote Originally Posted by Johnny Footstool
    A weapon that causes pain without physical injury seems pretty humane to me.
    Causing pain (within reason) sure seems more humane than just killing someone. War still usually comes down to the common soldier and a case of kill or be killed.
    "Hey...Dad. Wanna Have A Catch?" Kevin Costner in "Field Of Dreams."

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    Churlish Johnny Footstool's Avatar
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    Re: Military Developing Weapon to Create "Maximum Pain"

    War still usually comes down to the common soldier and a case of kill or be killed.
    You're right. Plus it's easier to kill someone outright than to hurt them without physical injury.

    I don't think this weapon could be used in a war. It sounds more like a tool for police who don't want to injure citizens.
    "I prefer books and movies where the conflict isn't of the extreme cannibal apocalypse variety I guess." Redsfaithful

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    Re: Military Developing Weapon to Create "Maximum Pain"

    Quote Originally Posted by Johnny Footstool
    A weapon that causes pain without physical injury seems pretty humane to me. Much better than something that could melt your retinas, liquify your bones, and irradiate the earth for thousands of years.

    The flip side is, if they are developing a weapon to target pain receptors, it would be just as easy (if not easier) to create a drug that nullifies those same receptors.

    Just fight really really drunk! :gac:
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    RZ Chamber of Commerce Unassisted's Avatar
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    Re: Military Developing Weapon to Create "Maximum Pain"

    Anyone who watched the movie "Gigli" is likely immune to this.
    /r/reds

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    Big Red Machine RedsBaron's Avatar
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    Re: Military Developing Weapon to Create "Maximum Pain"

    Quote Originally Posted by Unassisted
    Anyone who watched the movie "Gigli" is likely immune to this.
    I'm pretty sure that subjecting enemy troops to "Gigli" is barred by The Geneva Convention.
    "Hey...Dad. Wanna Have A Catch?" Kevin Costner in "Field Of Dreams."


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