From the “this does not bode well” file.
Test subjects can’t see the invisible beam from the Pentagon’s new, Star Trek-like weapon, but no one has withstood the pain it produces for more than three seconds. People who volunteered to stand in front of the directed energy beam say they felt as if they were on fire. When they stepped aside, the pain disappeared instantly.
The long-range column of millimeter-wave energy is known as the “Active Denial System” for its ability to prevent an aggressor from advancing. Senior military officials, who plan to deliver the device for troop evaluation this fall, say years of testing has produced no sign it will lead to health effects beyond perhaps causing skin to temporarily redden.
[via die puny humans]
Fire Phasers, Keptin!
Once again, life imitates art. Cell phones look like Kirk’s communicator (only smaller); floppy disks (now fast turning obsolete) are almost the same size as the brightly colored wooden squares Spock inserts into the computer console; computer technology continues to mimic and approach the original, voice interface and all…I’m waiting for the transporter, powered by either atomic energy or dilithium crystals, at which time we can take the Saudis to jump in the La Brea Tar Pits.