Swimmer Denial System and more
New Scientist writer Barry Fox has published a roundup of patent applications and he found this little nugget: A “swimmer denial system” from Raytheon Corporation that has the capacity to kill its victims.
The system uses a network of underwater sensors that will detect when a diver is coming too close to a protected installation or ship and will then use projectors to send sound waves at the intruder causing his “organs [to] resonate like organ pipes.”
The sound waves can cause vomiting and organ rupture, leading to drowning and death.
According to the article, because the system uses two sets of projectors (a main projector and several secondary projectors) it is harmless to fish and other marine life. They claim this because each set of projector’s signals are by themselves harmless. They combine, however, to produce a rather lethal barrier to would-be spies and terrorists.
Also in this article, a paper stand that uses static electricity to hold paper in place for typing. You know, those things that used to adhere to the sides of your monitor and hold paper up for you to transcribed it into your word processor?
Well, this system uses a battery and an sheet of aluminum encased in thin plastic to create static electricity that holds the page to the stand. Think “picture frame” when you imagine it.
The last item he details is a plan by Seagate to increase the capacity of hard drives to over 1 terabit per square inch. It’s all too technical for me to understand without taking more time than I want to give it to think about it so you can read that bit for yourself. ;^)
