Microwave ray gun promises to put sounds in people's heads

As we've seen countless times, ray guns can employ any number of less than lethal means to stop their targets in their tracks, and it looks like the Sierra Nevada Corporation is making some progress on one of the more novel methods, with its MEDUSA system apparently able to beam sounds into people's heads. According to NewScientist, that's done by exploiting the "microwave audio effect," which uses short microwave pulses to rapidly heat tissue and cause a "shockwave inside the skull." The system (not exactly as pictured above), is also apparently also able to be fine-tuned enough to produce recognizable sounds, and the company claims that it's now ready to actually start building 'em in earnest. The US Navy, who funded the research, still seems to be staying mum on that last point though.

[Via Slashdot, image courtesy NASA.gov]

[Derek @ Jul 7th 2008 3:48PM]

Imagine if this got into the wrong hands.

[Danakin @ Jul 7th 2008 3:49PM]

...it already is

[rock99rock @ Jul 7th 2008 4:53PM]

I for one awwwwwwww nevermind.

[Jonathan Worrel @ Jul 7th 2008 5:06PM]

Lol we're all gonna die of cancer now.


EMFs are taking over the world!

[jdang @ Jul 7th 2008 6:12PM]

Don't worry, you will only hear it if you're one of the Final Five. You should be ok.

[Macro @ Jul 7th 2008 7:42PM]

I need a Faraday cup

[Raymond @ Jul 8th 2008 6:19AM]

Is that Bill Gates aiming the left ray gun?!

[fight4life @ Jul 7th 2008 3:48PM]

Death to the NWO. These weapons will never stop the people.

[Jamie @ Jul 7th 2008 3:51PM]

Were those images supposed to have phallic overtones?

[Lowest Ranked @ Jul 7th 2008 4:06PM]

What does it say if you noticed?

[Jamie @ Jul 7th 2008 4:42PM]

I was going to flame you until I read some of your other posts.

Your witty comment here seems to be unlike you, so I'll give you a pass and tell you to please try again.

As for your question, it says that I'm a dude who can recognize a picture of two guys with giant ray guns for cocks when I see one.

[Mischa Lockton @ Jul 7th 2008 5:00PM]

Yeah, because 1/3 of us actually has a phallus coming out of our chest.

hmmm... I think you may be seeing them everywhere a la Superbad. Might want to get that checked out....

[Lowest Ranked @ Jul 7th 2008 5:01PM]

Well, shit, makes two of us.

[Reader @ Jul 7th 2008 5:15PM]

I see your Schwartz is as big as mine. Let's see how well you handle it.

[Jamie @ Jul 7th 2008 5:25PM]

@Mischa: You might want to look closer, because, although they might not be exactly eminating from the genital area, they certainly aren't coming from the chest. Thanks for playing the fued....NEXT.

[Abuzar Baloach @ Jul 7th 2008 7:45PM]

Man I didn't even think of that until you said it lol.

[Danakin @ Jul 7th 2008 3:52PM]

I guess tin foil helmets are no longer just to keep the aliens out of our heads.

[Garst @ Jul 7th 2008 7:57PM]

Nope, they'll also be used to evenly cook your brain. No longer will the zombies have to deal with brains that are burnt on one side, frozen on the other.

[Interpol @ Jul 7th 2008 3:55PM]

Is that Bill Gates?

[michas_pi @ Jul 7th 2008 7:57PM]

Guess we now know what leisure activities he is pursuing during his retirement.

[Mehdi Cheddadi @ Jul 7th 2008 3:55PM]

imagine if EMO punk groups got this...*gasp*

[Martin Bormann @ Jul 7th 2008 4:53PM]

You've really got your finger on the pulse, huh?

[Mark @ Jul 7th 2008 4:01PM]

Old news ... check out the company working with the Navy (and others) at http://www.atcsd.com/site/content/view/27/41/

[donkamero @ Jul 7th 2008 4:29PM]

man, what is it these days with people jumping to say 'old news' to every engadget post? Is old news the new 'first!'?

[David MacMillan @ Jul 7th 2008 11:16PM]

Dude, if you bothered to read this stuff you would know the difference between directed audio and microwave-induced audio.

[Joel @ Jul 7th 2008 4:03PM]

Reminds me of the episode of Futurama where advertisements were beamed into people's heads while they slept.

[Motoken @ Jul 8th 2008 6:20PM]

thats the first thing i thought

[Froggy @ Jul 7th 2008 4:05PM]

That sound you hear is the sounds of millions of dollars of government contracts being wasted on this bullshit.

[Artie Lange @ Jul 7th 2008 4:11PM]

Project X realized. Where's John Galt when you need him?

[Rocketboy @ Jul 7th 2008 4:11PM]

That picture is dirty. Shame on you Engadget.

[Joel @ Jul 7th 2008 4:12PM]

Reminds me of the episode of futurama where advertisements were beamed into their heads while they slept.

[gerrrg @ Jul 7th 2008 4:12PM]

a bunch of sick mofos.

They should test one another with maximum settings, 5 minutes minimum, 100x.

[Archr5 @ Jul 7th 2008 4:17PM]

So how long before Muad'Dib gets a hold of this bad boy and uses it to RULE THE WORLD.

[Artie Lange @ Jul 7th 2008 4:57PM]

And how can this be? Because he is the KWISATZ HADERACH!"

[rpunsbe @ Jul 7th 2008 4:18PM]

You know what really grinds my gears?

People were all up in arms about ethical questions related to stem cell research with the media fueling the fire. I've heard absolutely no real protesting (comments don't count) what-so-ever about the development of this device which I would the ethical questions of the "beaming" of sound into someones mind is an outrageous violation of privacy. Our minds are the last bastion of privacy and isolation.

Keep the f*#k out of my thoughts.

[AJ in the East Bay @ Jul 7th 2008 4:34PM]

Nobody is protesting about this because nobody knows about it except us geeks.

[ethan @ Jul 7th 2008 4:43PM]

You need a "jump to conclusions" map.

They featured this on Discovery Channels show, "Future Weapons". It's used to disperse out of control crowds very quickly, and its really effective. Nobody can stand in the blast area for more than a few seconds.

The secondary task (which hasn't been completed yet) of getting messages into heads is no different than blasting music out of a car stereo, except people around you won't hear it.

No need to fuss.

[ethan @ Jul 7th 2008 4:48PM]

You know what really makes me upset!? We're finally getting our military to create non-lethal weapons and you liberal bitches STILL cry. What the hell do you want? Flower shooters for the Navy, with massive speakers playing "Give peace a chance"???

There's no pleasing some people.

[Rocketboy @ Jul 7th 2008 4:49PM]

Apparently your thoughts are what you saw on Family Guy last night.

[rpunsbe @ Jul 7th 2008 5:11PM]

@ethan: First off, I can find no evidence that the Active Denial System (the one for crowd control) is in any way related to MEDUSA (the one that beams sounds into your head). The only similarity between the two systems is that they use microwaves.

Second - I am all for the the development of non-lethal weapons. I never said I wasn't, so get off your high horse. The ability to beam sound into the human brain is an extremely scary thought. We have all seen how awesome the the taser has been as a "non-lethal" weapon. Who is to say there won't be any unforeseen repercussions of creating a "shockwave inside the skull." Sounds great...

[Leo @ Jul 7th 2008 5:46PM]

@ethan - I've gotta say, I hate you republican swine but that was some funny sh*t; funny because it's accurate.

[AJ in the East Bay @ Jul 7th 2008 5:48PM]

@ethan:

So because it was on the Discovery Channel it means a lot of people are aware of this? Speaking of jumping to conclusions...

[Dillon @ Jul 8th 2008 2:52AM]

"You need a "jump to conclusions" map."

...hmmm... I was gonna build one of those myself. Unfortunately though, my boss took my awesome red stapler that I was going to use to aid in the construction of it.

[Tyler Ransom @ Jul 7th 2008 4:19PM]

Can you imagine being in the battlefield. Then all of a sudden you hear in your head, "Freeze! You have 5 seconds to comply and put down your weapon otherwise we will melt your brain! Five! Four!..."

Lets just hope i'm on the right side of the battlefield.

[BigD145 @ Jul 7th 2008 4:19PM]

"Consume more. Complain less. Vote Republican."

[Deafening @ Jul 7th 2008 4:21PM]

You'll be hearing from us ...

[Justin E @ Jul 7th 2008 4:27PM]

Spell check

[KillerSiafu @ Jul 7th 2008 4:30PM]

I didn't know Sierra Nevada makes beer AND ray guns... that's pretty cool! I bet they have some good times playing drunken space man!

[LiqwidZero @ Jul 7th 2008 4:33PM]

Oh, god, no. I hope I don't start having dreams of Lightspeed Briefs.

[kal326 @ Jul 7th 2008 4:34PM]

Why does producing a shockwave by rapidly heating tissue in the skull sound like a bad idea. That has to have some possibility of permanent brain damage.