Is the Defense Deparment about to test their new pain ray on humans? Will New York's MTA system go the London route? And will electricity soon be the big replacement for oil?
Noah Shachtman
DefenseTech.org
The Pentagon is dead serious about getting its pain ray into the field soon -- serious enough to test the system out on people.
Defense Industry Daily notes that " Conceptual MindWorks in San Antonio, TX received a $7 million cost-plus fixed-fee contract to provide for research support around emerging directed energy weapons... and their effects on humans."
Work will be conducted in cooperation with the Air Force Research Laboratory, Human Effectiveness Directorate ... located in Brooks City-Base, TX. The scope of the proposed contract will focus on bioeffects research on directed energy and kinetic energy systems, to assist in transitioning DoD technologies from the lab to the front lines.
Using electro-magnetic waves that penetrate just a 64th of inch beneath the skin, the Defense Department's pain ray creates a burning sensation that tends to make people run the other way, fast.
Hundreds of people have been voluntarily zapped by the device, known as the Active Denial System , with a little, if any, lasting damage. But that testing was called into question last month, when New Scientist revealed that the trials weren't as realistic as they could have been.
The experimenters banned glasses and contact lenses to prevent possible eye damage to the subjects, and in the second and third tests removed any metallic objects such as coins and keys to stop hot spots being created on the skin. They also checked the volunteers' clothes for certain seams, buttons and zips which might also cause hot spots.... People playing rioters put up their hands when hit and were given a 15-second cooling-down period before being targeted again.
A prototype Humvee-mounted ADS system could be sent to Iraq by the end of the year. A modified Stryker armored personnel carrier , equipped with a low-power version of the pain ray, a laser dazzler , and a sonic blaster , isn't all that far behind, officials familiar with the program say.
Any thoughts on this? Discuss
Subway Surveillance on Track
New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority is getting set to announce their subway security plan . And from the details reported in today's Times , the MTA appears to be basing their $200 million effort on the smart surveillance systems we've profiled in places like Chicago and the port of Corpus Christi .
Lockheed Martin will lead a team of contractors in creating an "integrated electronic security system" that will include closed-circuit television cameras, motion detectors and "intelligent video" software that can automatically determine if a package has been left on a train or if a person is in a restricted area.
The MTA could have gone the London route , stringing tons of cameras throughout the subway, and only paying careful attention to the footage once something bad went down. Instead, by using software to detect suspicious behavior, New York transit officials seem to want their thousand new cameras and three thousand electronic sensors to serve as deterrents, tipping cops off to potential bad guys before they act.
The system is a long, long time in coming. Back in 2002, the MTA was given $591 million to shore up New York's mass transit security. As of last month, it had spent just $30 million of that. Finally, the London tube bombings shamed the MTA into making a move.
THERE'S MORE: Bruce Schneier thinks the subway cams are a waste, dealing with the "' movie plot threat '" of the moment... The terrorists bombed a subway in London, so we need to defend our subways."
New York City officials are [also] erring on the side of caution. If nothing happens, then it was only money. But if something does happen, they won't keep their jobs unless they can show they did everything possible. And technological solutions just make everyone feel better.
What are your thoughts on NY's subway security?
Darpa's Energy-Savers: Drones, Nets
While the New York Times and others are contemplating the beginning of the end of oil , the Pentagon's way-out research arm is trying to figure out what it would take to make the U.S. military "petroleum free," according to Inside Defense.
Naturally, the mad scientists picked robots and wireless battlefield networks as two of their top energy savers.
“This universal connectivity will allow commanders to track individual soldiers and robots as well as logistics system status and readiness,” the summary [of a February Darpa energy workshop] states. These capabilities, coupled with advanced modeling and simulation tools, will allow commanders to rapidly explore and exploit warfighting options, which in the end translates into shorter execution time lines and reduced energy requirements.
Darpa-ites also saw drones as a potential boost to oil alternatives.
Using more unmanned systems will save energy because they will be smaller and lighter than manned systems that require armor, the summary states. Plus, robots and other unmanned systems “will allow reduction of the number of combat soldiers needed to accomplish the mission, further contributing to reduced energy requirements.”
Electricity will one day be the big replacement for oil, the Darpa conferees believe. And "since electricity can be generated from a variety of sources, it may be possible in 30 years to avoid having to rely on energy and fuel imported into a battlespace," Inside Defense notes.
The military would also need portable generators and "'ultra-high-capacity' electric storage devices to support directed-energy weapons and other 'futuristic gun systems' that require massive amounts of energy in short bursts."
But those ray guns shouldn't be wired up to the generators. The energy should be beamed through the air, instead. "This technology will be valuable because power lines are highly vulnerable to sabotage," the Darpa summary observes. Of course they are.
