It’s a hypersonic weapon *and* a propaganda device. It’ll turn up in cars and nu-metal concerts too I’ll bet.
Once aimed at the enemy, a focused beam of the familiar noise, played backwards, will be painful enough to make enemy soldiers run for their lives, according to its developers. They call it the “sonic bullet”.
There are 50 soundtracks to choose from, and they are played at 140 decibels. That is akin to standing beneath a passenger jet as it takes off. Hardly surprising, then, that the weapon causes an intense headache in its victim.
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But the “hypersonic sound system” beams sound along two ultrasonic signals to produce noise only when they hit the target. The weapon’s user doesn’t hear a thing.
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A hand-held version of the weapon – a thin tube about a yard long, dubbed a “directed stick radiator” – might in theory be used against hijackers in a plane cockpit, though the bouncing beams could deafen passengers as well.The firm which developed the system, American Technology Corporation, has won approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to market it. It also hopes to offer the device for use in drinks machines. Someone in front of one would hear the sound of a can opening with an enticing fizz.