For all you Conspiracy Theory folks. . .

[IlliniRacer]

Damm government thinks of EVERYTHING!!!

On the Effectiveness of Aluminium Foil Helmets: An Empirical Study (http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/)

[KLang]

:laugh:

I find this style works best:

http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/centurion.JPG

[G.]

Who funded this research, hmmm? Could it be, DARPA? NSA?

Always follow the $$.

All I know is that since I've been wearing my Al helmet, I have not heard a single voice inside of my head. I also notice that when I'm out in public sporting the cranial cap, there seems to be a lot less voices OUTSIDE of my head as well. People rarely approach me to strike up a conversation.


:gomer:

[eiregosod]

must've been coke & pizza time at MIT. better they be testing foil hats than hacking into your computer during their breaks.

[stroker]

speaking of voices inside your head....


http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htweap/articles/20071217.aspx


Death Ray Replaced By The Voice of God
December 17, 2007: While U.S. efforts to deploy it's microwave Active Denial System (which transmits a searchlight sized bean of energy when makes people downrange feel like their skin is on fire) continue to be delayed, another non-lethal system, LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) has been quietly deployed to Iraq. And there the story gets a little strange.



LRAD is basically a focused beam of sound. Originally, it was designed to emit a very loud sound. Anyone whose head was touched by this beam, heard a painfully loud sound. Anyone standing next to them heard nothing. But those hit by the beam promptly fled, or fell to the ground in pain. Permanent hearing loss is possible if the beam is kept on a person for several seconds, but given the effect the sound usually has on people (they move, quickly), it is unlikely to happen. LRAD works. It was recently used off Somalia, by a cruise ship, to repel pirates. Some U.S. Navy ships also carry it, but not just to repel attacking suicide bombers, or whatever. No, the system was sold to the navy for a much gentler application. LRAD can also broadcast speech for up to 300 meters. The navy planned to use LRAD to warn ships to get out of the way. This was needed in places like the crowded coastal waters of the northern Persian Gulf, where the navy patrols. Many small fishing and cargo boats ply these waters, and it's often hard to get the attention of the crews. With LRAD, you just aim it at a member of the crew, and have an interpreter "speak" to the sailor. It was noted that the guy on the receiving end was sometimes terrified, even after he realized it was that large American destroyer that was talking to him. This apparently gave the army guys some ideas, for there are now rumors in Iraq of a devilish American weapon that makes people believe they are hearing voices in their heads.



This made more sense when an American advertising firm recently used an LRAD unit to support a media campaign for a new TV show. LRAD was pointed at a sidewalk in Manhattan, below the billboard featuring the new show. LRAD broadcast a female voice providing teaser lines from the show. The effect was startling, and a bit scary for many who passed through the LRAD beam. It appears that some of the troops in Iraq are using "spoken" (as opposed to "screeching") LRAD to mess with enemy fighters. Islamic terrorists tend to be superstitious and, of course, very religious. LRAD can put the "word of God" into their heads. If God, in the form of a voice that only you can hear, tells you to surrender, or run away, what are you gonna do?



Meanwhile, the microwave powered ADS, a non-lethal weapon that looks like a radar dish, languishes in politically correct limbo. The ADS "radar dish" projects a "burn ray" that is about four feet in diameter. It is effective in fog, smoke and rain. When pointed at people and turned on, it creates a burning sensation on the skin of its victims, causing them to want to leave the area, or at least greatly distracts them. The microwave weapon has a range of about 500 meters. ADS is carried on a hummer or Stryker, along with a machine-gun and other non-lethal weapons (like LRAD). The proposed ROE (Rules of Engagement) for ADS were that anyone who kept coming after getting hit with microwave was assumed to have evil intent, and could be killed. The microwave is believed to be particularly useful for terrorists who hide in crowds of women and children, using the human shields to get close enough to make an attack. This has been encountered in Somalia and Iraq.



Deployment of ADS has been delayed for years because of concerns about how non-lethal it really is. ADS has been fired, in tests, over 2,500 times. Many of these firings were against human volunteers, and the device performed as predicted, without any permanent damage. But generations of exposure to lurid science fiction descriptions of "death rays" has made the defense bureaucrats anxious over the negative public relations potential if something like ADS was actually used. From a publicity perspective, using more lethal "non-lethal-weapons" is preferable to deploying something safer, but that could be described, however incorrectly, as a "death ray." In any event, it appears that the cheaper, smaller (about 45 pounds), gentler and more flexible LRAD has taken ADS's place in the American arsenal. At least for now.

[G.]

LRAD is basically a focused beam of sound.... It was recently used off Somalia, by a cruise ship, to repel pirates. I kinda need that one confirmed.

An experimental soft weapon given to a cruise ship??

(I know that piracy is on the upswing, esp. near Somalia, that's not the question.)

I mean, i can understand letting an Ad agency use it, hell, it's America, but a cruise ship??

[stroker]

I kinda need that one confirmed.

An experimental soft weapon given to a cruise ship??

(I know that piracy is on the upswing, esp. near Somalia, that's not the question.)

I mean, i can understand letting an Ad agency use it, hell, it's America, but a cruise ship??

That was probably the Wal-Mart version, not the Pentagon version.

:tony:

Then again, it might have been Kathie Lee Gifford with a loudspeaker.

[TravelGal]

Piracy is a serious and growing problem. Success with small boats has emboldened these criminals to try larger prey.

Now seriously folks, why would you think a cruise ship should not be allowed to defend itself? If you think it should be equipped to repel pirates, who undoubted have guns and plenty of them, do you think it's preferable to use bullets in the presence of so many civilians (read: lots of old folks and/or children) or a directed beam of sound?

[Sean Malone]

I kinda need that one confirmed.

An experimental soft weapon given to a cruise ship??

(I know that piracy is on the upswing, esp. near Somalia, that's not the question.)

I mean, i can understand letting an Ad agency use it, hell, it's America, but a cruise ship??


The luxury cruise ship "Seabourn Spirit" employed an LRAD while repelling pirates who attacked the vessel with RPGs about 160 km off the coast of Somalia in early November 2005.[4] [5] The effectiveness of this device during the attack is not completely clear, however the pirates did not succeed in boarding the vessel and eventually fled.

link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LRAD)

[Sean Malone]

Piracy is a serious and growing problem. Success with small boats has emboldened these criminals to try larger prey.

Now seriously folks, why would you think a cruise ship should not be allowed to defend itself? If you think it should be equipped to repel pirates, who undoubted have guns and plenty of them, do you think it's preferable to use bullets in the presence of so many civilians (read: lots of old folks and/or children) or a directed beam of sound?

Whatever works. I personally think shoulder mounted rockets would get the job done effectively. :)

[cart7]

What a shame they didn't have that thing on the "Love Boat".

They could've kept Charo off at least a dozen episodes.