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Credit to Author: Rebecca Heilweil| Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2018 11:00:00 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n We may never <\/span>know whether Cuba attacked American diplomats with microwave weapons\u2014but we do know similar devices exist. The US Department of Defense<\/a>\u2019s Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, along with a host of private arms companies, has spent decades testing everything from long-range wireless Taser bullets to sonic guns that can disable a car engine from 150 feet away. The one requirement: These weapons must emit less than 10,000 joules, the amount of energy it takes to kill a person. Bombs incite wars, the thinking goes\u2014but North Korea<\/a> miiight<\/em> forgive the \u201caccidental discharge\u201d of a directed-energy laser pulser (also, as it happens, in the works).<\/p>\n Still in the lab, this blaster employs two lasers. The first pulses on and off to dislodge atmospheric electrons and spin up plasma, while the second beams straight into the resulting ball of ionizing gas to release an ear-splitting burst of sound energy.<\/p>\n Instead of a traditional loudspeaker\u2019s array of cones, coils, and magnets, this lightweight projector pushes heat currents through cylinders of pure, finely twisted carbon. Rapidly warming and cooling these tubes creates noise, a technique that, the Defense Department hopes, could one day imbue tiny drones with the power to scream \u201cDrop your weapons, enemy scum!\u201d<\/p>\n At Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, the DOD is experimenting with electrified speed bumps. When the ground panels detect incoming wheels, they emit high-voltage pulses that disrupt the vehicle\u2019s engine\u2014but won\u2019t electrocute the passengers, giving guards more time to investigate suspicious visitors.<\/p>\n Once a Darpa<\/a> science project, PepperBall\u2019s AR15-esque gun can fire 180 rounds of micro-\u00adpulverized burning irritant (or stink bombs or inky liquid) before reloading. First military deployment: Afghanistan.<\/p>\n When the eely hagfish senses danger, it spews out a cloud of milky slime that blinds and gags potential predators. The DOD\u2019s version of that secretes its own mucous gunk\u2014one idea is to affix the contraption to autonomous watercraft\u2014fine-tuned to ensnare the propellers of enemy ships and submarines. Now the agency is looking at whether spider\u2019s silk could fortify a next-gen recipe.<\/p>\n This article appears in the December issue. Subscribe now<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n