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Indian Military Hopes to Weaponize the Searing "Ghost Pepper"
coondoggie writes "The military in India is looking to weaponize the world's hottest chili, the bhut jolokia or 'ghost pepper,' according to a number of news outlets. The Bhut Jolokia chili pepper from Assam, India is no ordinary pepper. In tests first conducted by the New Mexico State University in 2008 and subsequently confirmed by Guinness World records and others, the Bhut Jolokia reached over one million Scoville heat units, while the next hottest, the Red Savina Habenero, clocks in at a mere 577,000. Scoville units are a universally accepted measure of chili hotness."
Scoville units are a universally accepted measure of chili hotness
I thought SCOville was universally accepted to be a litigious outhouse?
From past experience I can recommened the development of a chicken Vindaloo bomb. It will cause injuries when dropped then again about 24 hours later.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kO7MlHgJLA
Hopefully that's the right link.
There's a burger in TX that uses this pepper called the Four Horsemen Burger. As of the taping of this episode of Man Vs Food, only three people had managed to finish one in 25 minutes, with an additional 5 minutes of waiting without liquids. The host of the show became number 4, though it looked like he wasn't going to get past even the first bite.
Isn't that illegal (internationally) if a weapon causes this much pain and suffering?
Fifty watts per channel, baby cakes.
Eating raw Jolokia is a source of some mildly entertaining videos.
Lurking at the bottom of the gravity well, getting old
A pepper gap such as this cannot be tolerated. The security of our nation depends on meeting or exceeding these advances! At the very least, a space based pepper shield should be a highest priority. Pepper is Not A Game! Oh, wait, it is. My bad.
Actually, the Scoville scale measures the actual amount of capsaicin in a pepper. The test that Scoville himself invented was subjective. But because of the work he did on it, they named the quantitative units after him.
I will shred my adversaries. Pull their eyes out just enough to turn them towards their mewing, mutilated faces. Illyria
Yes but capsaicin is a fat-soluble compound. Water won't dissolve it (which is why drinking water or most liquids do nothing to stop a burning tongue), but milk, yogurt, or any other fat-containing liquid will dissolve it and wash it down the throat, nearly neutralizing the effect.
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
The article implies that 1,000,000 scoville's is nasty stuff compared to the habenero. Yet when looking at wikipedia's entry on the scoville scale, it says law enforcement pepper spray is rated at 5,000,000 to 5,300,00 million scovilles. In other words, the pepper spray currently on the market is already stronger than the bhut jolokia. So what's the news then, if they are developing a weapon with significantly less strength than what's currently on the market?
The active ingredient that makes that pepper so hot is Capsaicin, the same stuff in pepper spray.
Is it actually cheaper for them to use the local grown pepper with a variable yield than just using the pure substance with a controlled yield?
The article says they want to use it for troops in cold areas. This scares me. It heavily implies that some moron in charge has no understanding of science. Just because it tastes hot doesn't mean it'll help avoid hypothermia in the slightest. (In fact, they are more likely to succumb to hypothermia if they try to 'reduce' the 'heat' from those peppers by taking off clothes or drinking cold liquids or sucking snow.)
I'm going to throw out a guess that this isn't about the effectiveness of the pepper, but rather a homegrown movement to use a local product (in an inferior form) rather than a possibly foreign product. Sometimes the politicians in India are know to do stupid things like that.
Come to think of it, sometimes US politicians do the same thing...
(Buy American! Even if it's a piece of crap that costs three times as much as the one made in Canada, or where-ever.)
One last thing, don't forget that exposure to high doses of Capsaicin can seriously mess you up, and in some extreme cases, kill.
(For example, gassing someone who has asthma.)
I must be missing something here:
1) I'm pretty sure it's a banned weapon militarily speaking.
2)Who cares which pepper the capsaicin came from!? How would this be any different than any of the current commercial pepper sprays/balls/bombs?
quit being such a wuss
It's not actually caustic. Capsicum just lowers your threshold of heat, so the nerves feel like they are in a hot area. Thus, it "burns" you. Blistering is a reaction to this. If you can use it as a caustic agent it probably has a lot of vinegar added.
Not a sentence!
Modern expressions of pungency in terms of Scoville units set pure capsaicin at either 15,000,000 or 16,000,000, and use HPLC to establish concentration of same (and related compounds). A Scoville rating is then set based on the concentration(s) measured.
So, knowing the reference standard, the measurements are actually quite objective.
Nobody, as far as I know, uses taste testers anymore.
In Liberty, Rene
(1) It instantly blisters skin on contact
(3) Not only is it good for eating...
I'm having a hard time reconciling the first clause of fact #3 with fact #1.
That's because "Fact" 1 isn't.
I've been handling all sorts of hot peppers for many years, and the particularly hot ones are very capable of producing a burning sensation on the skin just like in your mouth. And Rubbing your eyes inadvertently will ruin your evening, there is no doubt. But blistering? I sup[pose it could happen if you had an allergic reaction, but that's not even remotely going to be a common thing.
It's been my experience that dealers and vendors are really in to hyping the dangers of the sauces that are typically named "Loco", Death" and "Devil" based scary named variations.. And well they should, it's really good for business, and selling product is what they do.
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
No,
They are attaching blenders to the backs of troops and hooking up pumps to spray it at the enemy.
Wind changes are a bitch with this weapon.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
The guy who sold it to us told us a few interesting things about it: (1) It instantly blisters skin on contact (2) it's very expensive to buy over the internet because it has to be shipped as a hazardous materiel. (3) Not only is it good for eating, but it works great as a caustic agent for degreasing driveways, engines, etc.
the guy who sold it was ragingly full of shit.
I have let it sit on my skin for 20 minutes to prove it's a fake claim... Won $100.00 in the office after that and eating a taco with it on it. (they dont understand that sour cream really kills it's burn)
It's not acid, it dont burn the skin and is worthless for degreasing driveways.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
In fact, Indian farmers say Bhut paste can be used for everything from sauces to tear gas. And there in lies the military's interest.
The Indian military is interested in the many uses of Bhut paste? I ... I don't know how to respond to this in a mature manner.
So should that tool be a pistol instead? Not saying that instance is good but I'd rather be pepper sprayed than shot if given the choice...
If your apt doesn't get enough sun, you need to use "apt -get more-sunshine". (You might have to change your sources to the beta-global-warming source repository first).
That fetish might be less popular than you think it is.
USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
Yes, you are right! India's both strength and weakness lies in Democracy. That is the reason behind India's moderate growth compared to China's aggressive.
In the backdrop of Google vs China, we can't even imagine Google vs India. Here in India, you have freedom to express what you think. Here the limitation is you can't do as you wish freely due to practical issues like massive population, corrupted politicians (not political system) and bureaucrats and last but not least people's expectation that some one will/should come and solve our problem like a super man. China tackles all the above issues with one single weapon called Dictatorship in the name of Communism. So their pace may be better than India **as of now**.
But it is true that growth of a nation is **not** 100m race, it is marathon - you need consistent performance and more resilience. After all Country is nothing but the people. What the govt. is going to achieve by isolating its people from the main stream of world? In Tamil, there is a saying - "What you are going to achieve by buying painting at the cost of your eyes?"
I am afraid that I may be biased towards India, since I am an Indian. But I take US as dream role model for our country's political system. The democracy in US is the one which has driven it so far. We are lucky to have such a democracy in India. In US, the people's real patriotism lies in being true to the social setup (basically adhering to the rules and regulation of the society). But it is unfortunate that here in India patriotism is judged on your emotional show case than how sincere you are towards country's growth.
bits and bytes of life should serve the needy - My bits and bytes
To summ up your post:
It's not pepper spray, it's sprayed pepper.
Really?
TRPV1 antagonists (of which capsaicin is one) can cause rashes and inflamation on the skin, but it takes a very high concentration. The only way I could see getting a blister is from a serious allergic reaction.
Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
That's contrary to what I know: Capsaicin binds to the TRPV1 receptor, which has a primary function of activating due to heat (>43C according to Wikipedia). The same receptor is present on some (but not all) pain nerves. The "second pepper isn't as hot" desensitization effect is due not to damage but to depletion of calcium used to transmit the signals from the affected nerves. You haven't killed anything off, just used up the fuel they use to signal the brain.
It's also not a permanent pain reliever, it is temporary. It can last longer than other methods though. AFAICT it can last for a few weeks.
Not a sentence!