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StunRay Incapacitates With a Flash of Light

Hugh Pickens writes "Scientific American reports that a newly patented method of non-lethal incapacitation can render an assailant helpless for several minutes by overloading the neural networks connected to the retina with a brief flash of high-intensity light. 'It's the inverse of blindness—the technical term is a loss of contrast sensitivity,' says Todd Eisenberg, the engineer who invented the device. The device consists of a 75-watt lamp, combined with optics that collect and focus the visible light into a targeted beam, which can be aimed like a flashlight to project a controlled beam of white light more than 10 times more intense than an aircraft landing light with a range as far away as 150 feet. Recovery time ranges from 'seconds to 20 minutes,' says Eisenberg. 'It's very analogous to walking from a very bright room into a very dark room.'"

13 of 431 comments (clear)

  1. Re:...liabilities by rubycodez · · Score: 5, Insightful

    no problem, look at how Taser International's massive legal team can get all the maimings and deaths by electrocution swept under the run by buying off judges and doctors and county coroners. The military-industrial complex can steam-roll over peons, it's just operating costs and part of the business plan.

  2. In protest of people whining about tasers by Fujisawa+Sensei · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In protest about people whining about tasers, I propose we take tasers, batons and bean bags away from the police. Also since cops don't wear running shoes, and they're given guns, the guns should be used instead of chasing. So any one resisting or trying to run away, you will be shot and you will be killed.

    If force needs to be used, make sure its as lethal as possible.

    --
    If someone is passing you on the right, you are an asshole for driving in the wrong lane.
    1. Re:In protest of people whining about tasers by Ltap · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The issue with tasers is not that they exist, but that they are misused -- Taser International has misled police and the public to believe that tasers are more safe than they really are, so police will happily overuse them without making as many judgement calls as if they used live weapons. While trying to ban tasers is misguided, trying to educate people about them (especially when people with financial stakes try as hard as they can to obscure the information) is not.

      --
      Yet Another Tech Blog
      (but so much more, including game and movie reviews)
      http://yanteb.peasantoid.org
  3. Re:...liabilities by RoFLKOPTr · · Score: 2, Insightful

    all the maimings and deaths by electrocution

    [citation needed]

  4. Re:...liabilities by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You must be knew here. Citations are only needed if you're *defending* corporations or the government.

  5. Re:...liabilities by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You had me until "military-industrial complex"

    I know, right? I mean, what kind of commie, hippie loser came up with the name "military-industrial complex" anyway?

    Probably some leftist liberal trying to assert his homosexual agenda on the rest of us.

    What a concept: "military-industrial complex". Sheesh!

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  6. Re:...liabilities by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So cheap you could use it against tank drivers

    Considering these weapons are meant to be used against us, or at least those of us who are so unpatriotic as to not be rich and powerful, I don't think the "tank drivers" have anything to worry about.

    These are weapons for domestic use. Not for foreign entanglements.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  7. Re:...liabilities by clang_jangle · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nice troll. You might be singing a different tune of you'd been an innocent bystander who got tased for "being in the wrong place at the wrong time" (in my case, Seattle 1999 WTO protests). This is a tool for repressing dissent, not for maintaining legitimate law and order.

    --
    Caveat Utilitor
  8. Re:...liabilities by MoonBuggy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Only valid on the assumption that a gun would have been used in place of the Taser. Unless you're telling me that the police would shoot someone for refusing to promptly follow an order (while posing no direct threat), that's demonstrably not the case.

    I don't actually object to tasers per se, but I do object to police guidelines which allow their use against people who pose no threat to either the officers or the public around them. Most of the pro-taser arguments revolve around their use as a defensive weapon, but their actual use is not limited strictly to defence. I know such policies would be imperfectly applied, but it would still be better than the current system in which they can be legitimately used as immediate 'punishment' for failing to comply with police commands.

  9. They're police, not samurai by jaypifer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I agree, but why stop there, let's take the guns away, too.

    Shooting someone for running away or resisting arrest is the stupidest suggestion I've ever heard. Spend a little less time watching Cops and read more about abuse of power, wrongful arrest, and unarmed shootings by police because of "self-defense".

    Giving any people that sort of power will guarantee a rash of "necessary force". Dead people can't argue.

    --
    Never go to sea with two chronometers; take one or three.
  10. Re:...liabilities by RoFLKOPTr · · Score: 3, Insightful

    {citation needed]

    Only by uninformed basement dwellers, anyone who's been even casually following "the news" for the past five years would know it's true.

    That's the problem. "The news" broadcasts controversial events and propaganda and anecdotal evidence and videos of stupid hippies yelling at cops because they hate cops and unruly college students refusing to comply with peace officer demands at public speaking events and then whining when they get tazed. That's all I've ever seen on "the news". How about some actual data? How about some real statistics? Here's an irl scientific study which stated that out of the nearly 1000 cases of Taser use studied, 99.7% resulted in minor to no injury (as in, fall and scratch yourself on the concrete or similar), three hospitalizations, and two deaths which were found to not have been the result of Taser use: Taser Medical Safety: the state of the science - William P. Bozeman, MD, FACEP, FAAEM (PDF of a slideshow presentation made at University of Florida), Study: Tasers are safe to use - Physorg, Independent studies could answer questions about Tasers. I can't seem to locate a published record of that particular study, but here is another paper by Dr Bozeman that compares Tasers to other methods of incapacitation: Medical Aspects of Less Lethal Weapons.

    Your turn.

  11. Re:...liabilities by Blymie · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Bah.

    The problem is that almost every police force in the world uses tasers *improperly*.

    This is because of the lobbying, and the lies, all claiming that tasers are not dangerous. As a result, police do not assume there are risks with tasers. They use them indiscriminately, and in fact, many forces use them instead of physical restraint!

    For example:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dzieka%C5%84ski_Taser_incident

    Five RCMP officers, and a slightly agitated man... tasered TO DEATH. Hell, one of those officers, with their training, should have been able to 'take down' that man.

    I've seen videos of people with traffic violations, who are perhaps a bit 'lippy' to police, being tasered. Absurd. That is the real issue. That is why the public dislikes tasers.

    Tasers need to be labelled a dangerous weapon. They should only be used when an officer would normally use a gun. I'll say again, the ONLY time a taser should be used, is when an officer would use a handgun instead.

  12. Re:...liabilities by Entropius · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They are usually out numbered and have no idea what level of threat you are.

    Then they ought to treat you like a responsible nonviolent citizen until they figure it out. I'd have a hell of a lot more respect for police if they did this.

    when they decided not to do what the cops were telling them to do.

    This should never be justification for initiation of violence.