R.I.P.
On March 5, 2016, US defense contractor Raytheon suffered the loss of star technologist Ray Tomlinson; he would have turned 75 in April & had been working with Raytheon since decades. It is too early - at least for financial analysts who don't have the security clearance to be informed of what Mr. Tomlinson was working on - to calculate the effect on Raytheon's current financial status & future investment potential. But the news is still disconcerting from the point of view that a company, no matter how many victories it has under its belt, is only as successful as the heart & soul of the enterprise. For example, Apple is good & all...but it hasn't been great since Steve Jobs was diagnosed with cancer. The phenomenon of a gifted manager being literally irreplaceable can be both a great advantage & a serious disadvantage.
Over the decades, Raytheon has marketed many impressive products. At the moment, it produces a whole line of defense-related products from weaponry to surveillance technology. But its biggest cash cow is its product line related to its "Active Denial System" (ADS) technology. The ADS is a very promising technology that is rumored to have been in use in Pakistan since at least 15 years; but that claim cannot be conclusively substantiated because Raytheon is a defense contractor & consequently must adhere to the rules of discretion that all defense contractors respect so deeply. However, the ADS is worth every penny Raytheon has spent securing proprietary rights because it is literally the Holy Grail of weapons technology: a gun that can bring down a building, dissolve a man from the inside out or render the obstinate miraculously cooperative.
However, now that Mr. Tomlinson is dead, the million dollar question is can Raytheon maintain the profitability of the ADS on its own? To quote the Boston Box, Apple's "i" product line was both Rising Star & Cash Cow as long as Jobs was alive & well; it has turned into a combination of Problem Child & Old Dog ever since he fell ill. It's such a tragedy that the only headline any media outlet now bothers to devote to Apple is the increasingly boring debate about whether it will hand its pass codes over to the US Government or not, when in any case, nobody is stupid enough to store anything he or she wants to keep private on a cellphone.
Raytheon faces an even more complicated situation; the ADS is the apple of many an intelligence agency's eye, but looked upon as an instrument of torture & a weapon as dangerous & controversial as the A-bomb by those who have been at the receiving end of its effects...a population that is bigger than currently estimated, stretches over several international borders & includes a sizeable number of unsuspecting test subjects who don't have so much as a parking ticket against them. All this means is that Raytheon is skating on thin ice; the ADS is a very controversial technology, which is rapidly racking up the numbers of experts who publicly state that it is highly dangerous & should be banned. If that happens, all the fancy missiles in the world will not be able to repair (or even conceal) the dent in Raytheon's bottom line. It needs to go back to the good old days when it could produce blockbusters like the microwave oven - in effect, the time may have come for Raytheon to start getting re-acquainted with its genuinely non-lethal side.
But what exactly is the ADS? How does it work? Why are its effects considered potentially fatal? This week's offering from The Green Town Investor is an introduction to the wonders of Raytheon's weapons of mercy - & their effect on the global workforce & industry.
Raytheon's Active Denial System
The Active Denial System (ADS) is a directed-energy weapon developed by the U.S. military, & designed for area denial, perimeter security & crowd control. It works by heating the surface of targets, such as the skin of targeted human subjects, but if the frequency is re-adjusted it can even target specific internal organs - with horrific effects. Raytheon has developed a smaller version of the ADS, the Silent Guardian. This model is marketed for use by law enforcement agencies, the military & other security providers. The system is operated & aimed with a joystick & aiming screen & the device can be used on targets over a kilometre away.
Michael Hanlon, British science writer & editor - who volunteered to experience its effects in 2007 - described it as "a bit like touching a red-hot wire, but there is no heat, only the sensation of heat." Raytheon claims that pain ceases instantly upon removal of the ray, but Hanlon reported that the finger he subjected "was tingling hours later." Poor Mr. Hanlon died of a heart attack at the age of 51 just last month (February 9, 2016).
Long-term effects have never really been properly confirmed or denied; the idea of trying has been somewhat unpopular ever since Nikola Tesla (who is to directed energy weapons what Einstein is to nuclear weapons - the inventor) stated that directed energy weapons were the ultimate nightmare in that the target would never see it coming & consequently was in no position to save himself. Mr. Tesla was unable to prove his point because he apparently developed some unacceptable eccentricities after his statement, was declared partly insane & then died. So the debate was left unfinished & no scientist today has shown particular enthusiasm to publish any findings in this field; the result is that the general public has nothing but Raytheon's solemn promise that anybody who says he or she is getting slowly killed by exposure to directed energy weapons is either a lunatic or a liar.
The Post-Antibiotic Age
As luck would have it, this debate can be put to rest once & for all by one particular organization: the World Health Organization. Over the last several weeks, Dr. Margaret Chan & her team of trusty lieutenants have been spreading awareness of a new era in healthcare: "The Post-Antibiotic Age". According to Dr. Chan & co., the incorrect use of antibiotics has created a whole new line of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that reduce a patient to a vegetable or kill him outright regardless of how strong an antibiotic may be prescribed. They go on to say that this line of super germs is sweeping the world & the only thing that can be done by the WHO is to run refresher courses on how antibiotics are supposed to be used & remind people that "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger".
This situation kind of reminds people in Pakistan about the events following the official arrival of bird flu in this country. The authorities fell into the habit of shrieking "BIRD FLU!!!" every time anyone sniffed; they went on to forecast certain death for the stubborn sniffer if he didn't hand over the family nest egg in return for a course of Roche's blockbuster drug Tamiflu; Christmas came early for Roche, until Pfizer finally made its voice heard that the much cheaper Vibramycin was a far more effective treatment option. To quote Shakespeare, much ado about nothing.
The last time a super germ swept the world was the Spanish Flu in 1918. That year, the world population was 1.8 billion (1,800,000,000); the Spanish Flu infected approximately 500 million (500,000,000); 20 million to 50 million (20,000,000 - 50,000,000) died; all in the time frame of 8 weeks!
The human race is very grateful that such a situation is not unfolding today. But considering that it isn't, is it possible that the World Health Organization has misinterpreted the situation - perfectly healthy people complaining of extremely uncomfortable symptoms that don't respond to any conventional treatment - & it is not really a result of some supernatural bacterium or virus? Is the WHO absolutely certain that this "global pandemic" is not a case of mass exposure to directed energy weapons? How many lives could have been saved in 1945 if the world had known that exposure to dangerous energy waves may look like a conventional infection or disease but it will not respond to the conventional treatment?
Conclusion
Awareness of the "unforeseen side effects" of directed energy weapons are rapidly becoming common knowledge (primarily because the pool of affectees is rapidly expanding). That means, Raytheon would be wise to have a Plan B for when (not if) the ADS technology is blacklisted. But it is a rare & exceptional human being who understands the importance of making the tough decision before it is out of his or her hands.
Case in point: Dr. Chan's tenure as Director General of the World Health Organization will wind to a close next year (2017); even though she is at the tail end of her stint as head of the WHO, she is faced with a decision that will make or break her legacy in the healthcare sector. She has worked to improve world health for a decade, but at the end of the day, was her management style that of a glorified nurse or did she have the courage to document the cold hard truth?
TO FURTHER ILLUSTRATE THE POINT OF THIS DEBATE, I HAVE TAKEN THE LIBERTY OF REPRODUCING MICHAEL HANLON'S ARTICLE FROM THE DAILY MAIL WEBSITE HERE; THE ORIGINAL CAN BE FOUND AT http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-482560/Run-away-ray-gun-coming--We-test-US-armys-new-secret-weapon.html
Run away the ray-gun is coming : We test US army's new secret weapon
By MICHAEL HANLON
Last updated at 23:21 18 September 2007
"Yes, it's on. Move your finger a bit closer."
"Er ... ow! OW!" Not good. I try again. "OWWW!" I pull my hand away sharpish. My finger is throbbing, but seems undamaged.
I was told people can take it for a second, maximum. No way, not for a wimp like me.
I try it again. It is a bit like touching a red-hot wire, but there is no heat, only the sensation of heat. There is no burn mark or blister.
Its makers claim this infernal machine is the modern face of warfare. It has a nice, friendly sounding name, Silent Guardian.
I am told not to call it a ray-gun, though that is precisely what it is (the term "pain gun" is maybe better, but I suppose they would like that even less).
And, to be fair, the machine is not designed to vaporise, shred, atomise, dismember or otherwise cause permanent harm.
But it is a horrible device nonetheless, and you are forced to wonder what the world has come to when human ingenuity is pressed into service to make a thing like this.
Silent Guardian is making waves in defence circles. Built by the U.S. firm Raytheon, it is part of its "Directed Energy Solutions" programme.
What it amounts to is a way of making people run away, very fast, without killing or even permanently harming them.
That is what the company says, anyway. The reality may turn out to be more horrific.
I tested a table-top demonstration model, but here's how it works in the field.
A square transmitter as big as a plasma TV screen is mounted on the back of a Jeep.
When turned on, it emits an invisible, focused beam of radiation - similar to the microwaves in a domestic cooker - that are tuned to a precise frequency to stimulate human nerve endings.
It can throw a wave of agony nearly half a mile.
Because the beam penetrates skin only to a depth of 1/64th of an inch, it cannot, says Raytheon, cause visible, permanent injury.
But anyone in the beam's path will feel, over their entire body, the agonising sensation I've just felt on my fingertip. The prospect doesn't bear thinking about.
"I have been in front of the full-sized system and, believe me, you just run. You don't have time to think about it - you just run," says George Svitak, a Raytheon executive.
Silent Guardian is supposed to be the 21st century equivalent of tear gas or water cannon - a way of getting crowds to disperse quickly and with minimum harm. Its potential is obvious.
"In Iraq, there was a situation when combatants had taken media as human shields. The battalion commander told me there was no way of separating combatants from non-combatants without lethal force," Mr Svitak tells me.
He says this weapon would have made it possible because everyone, friend or foe, would have run from it.
In tests, even the most hardened Marines flee after a few seconds of exposure. It just isn't possible to tough it out.
This machine has the ability to inflict limitless, unbearable pain.
What makes it OK, says Raytheon, is that the pain stops as soon as you are out of the beam or the machine is turned off.
But my right finger was tingling hours later - was that psychosomatic?
So what is the problem? All right, it hurts, but then so do tear gas and water cannon and they have been used by the world's police and military for decades.
Am I being squeamish?
One thing is certain: not just the Silent Guardian, but weapons such as the Taser, the electric stun-gun, are being rolled out by Britain's police forces as the new way of controlling people by using pain.
And, as the Raytheon chaps all insist, you always have the option to get out of the way (just as you have the option to comply with the police officer's demands and not get Tasered).
But there is a problem: mission creep. This is the Americanism which describes what happens when, over time, powers or techniques are used to ends not stated or even imagined when they were devised.
With the Taser, the rules in place in Britain say it must be used only as an alternative to the gun. But what happens in ten or 20 years if a new government chooses to amend these rules?
It is so easy to see the Taser being used routinely to control dissent and pacify - as, indeed, already happens in the U.S.
And the Silent Guardian? Raytheon's Mac Jeffery says it is being looked at only by the "North American military and its allies" and is not being sold to countries with questionable human rights records.
An MoD spokesman said Britain is not planning to buy this weapon.
In fact, it is easy to see the raygun being used not as an alternative to lethal force (when I can see that it is quite justified), but as an extra weapon in the battle against dissent.
Because it is, in essence, a simple machine, it is easy to see similar devices being pressed into service in places with extremely dubious reputations.
There are more questions: in tests, volunteers have been asked to remove spectacles and contact lenses before being microwaved. Does this imply these rays are not as harmless as Raytheon insists?
What happens when someone with a weak heart is zapped?
And, perhaps most worryingly, what if deployment of Silent Guardian causes mass panic, leaving some people unable to flee in the melee? Will they just be stuck there roasting?
Raytheon insists the system is set up to limit exposure, but presumably these safeguards can be over-ridden.
Silent Guardian and the Taser are just the first in a new wave of "non-lethal" weaponry being developed, mostly in the U.S.
These include not only microwave ray-guns, but the terrifying Pulsed Energy Projectile weapon. This uses a powerful laser which, when it hits someone up to 11/2 miles away, produces a "plasma" - a bubble of superhot gas - on the skin.
A report in New Scientist claimed the focus of research was to heighten the pain caused by this semi-classified weapon.
And a document released under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act talks of "optimal pulse parameters to evoke peak nociceptor activation" - i.e. cause the maximum agony possible, leaving no permanent damage.
Perhaps the most alarming prospect is that such machines would make efficient torture instruments.
They are quick, clean, cheap, easy to use and, most importantly, leave no marks. What would happen if they fell into the hands of unscrupulous nations where torture is not unknown?
The agony the Raytheon gun inflicts is probably equal to anything in a torture chamber - these waves are tuned to a frequency exactly designed to stimulate the pain nerves.
I couldn't hold my finger next to the device for more than a fraction of a second. I could make the pain stop, but what if my finger had been strapped to the machine?
Dr John Wood, a biologist at UCL and an expert in the way the brain perceives pain, is horrified by the new pain weapons.
"They are so obviously useful as torture instruments," he says.
"It is ethically dubious to say they are useful for crowd control when they will obviously be used by unscrupulous people for torture."
We use the word "medieval" as shorthand for brutality. The truth is that new technology makes racks look benign.
However, now that Mr. Tomlinson is dead, the million dollar question is can Raytheon maintain the profitability of the ADS on its own? To quote the Boston Box, Apple's "i" product line was both Rising Star & Cash Cow as long as Jobs was alive & well; it has turned into a combination of Problem Child & Old Dog ever since he fell ill. It's such a tragedy that the only headline any media outlet now bothers to devote to Apple is the increasingly boring debate about whether it will hand its pass codes over to the US Government or not, when in any case, nobody is stupid enough to store anything he or she wants to keep private on a cellphone.
Raytheon faces an even more complicated situation; the ADS is the apple of many an intelligence agency's eye, but looked upon as an instrument of torture & a weapon as dangerous & controversial as the A-bomb by those who have been at the receiving end of its effects...a population that is bigger than currently estimated, stretches over several international borders & includes a sizeable number of unsuspecting test subjects who don't have so much as a parking ticket against them. All this means is that Raytheon is skating on thin ice; the ADS is a very controversial technology, which is rapidly racking up the numbers of experts who publicly state that it is highly dangerous & should be banned. If that happens, all the fancy missiles in the world will not be able to repair (or even conceal) the dent in Raytheon's bottom line. It needs to go back to the good old days when it could produce blockbusters like the microwave oven - in effect, the time may have come for Raytheon to start getting re-acquainted with its genuinely non-lethal side.
But what exactly is the ADS? How does it work? Why are its effects considered potentially fatal? This week's offering from The Green Town Investor is an introduction to the wonders of Raytheon's weapons of mercy - & their effect on the global workforce & industry.
Raytheon's Active Denial System
The Active Denial System (ADS) is a directed-energy weapon developed by the U.S. military, & designed for area denial, perimeter security & crowd control. It works by heating the surface of targets, such as the skin of targeted human subjects, but if the frequency is re-adjusted it can even target specific internal organs - with horrific effects. Raytheon has developed a smaller version of the ADS, the Silent Guardian. This model is marketed for use by law enforcement agencies, the military & other security providers. The system is operated & aimed with a joystick & aiming screen & the device can be used on targets over a kilometre away.
Michael Hanlon, British science writer & editor - who volunteered to experience its effects in 2007 - described it as "a bit like touching a red-hot wire, but there is no heat, only the sensation of heat." Raytheon claims that pain ceases instantly upon removal of the ray, but Hanlon reported that the finger he subjected "was tingling hours later." Poor Mr. Hanlon died of a heart attack at the age of 51 just last month (February 9, 2016).
Long-term effects have never really been properly confirmed or denied; the idea of trying has been somewhat unpopular ever since Nikola Tesla (who is to directed energy weapons what Einstein is to nuclear weapons - the inventor) stated that directed energy weapons were the ultimate nightmare in that the target would never see it coming & consequently was in no position to save himself. Mr. Tesla was unable to prove his point because he apparently developed some unacceptable eccentricities after his statement, was declared partly insane & then died. So the debate was left unfinished & no scientist today has shown particular enthusiasm to publish any findings in this field; the result is that the general public has nothing but Raytheon's solemn promise that anybody who says he or she is getting slowly killed by exposure to directed energy weapons is either a lunatic or a liar.
The Post-Antibiotic Age
As luck would have it, this debate can be put to rest once & for all by one particular organization: the World Health Organization. Over the last several weeks, Dr. Margaret Chan & her team of trusty lieutenants have been spreading awareness of a new era in healthcare: "The Post-Antibiotic Age". According to Dr. Chan & co., the incorrect use of antibiotics has created a whole new line of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that reduce a patient to a vegetable or kill him outright regardless of how strong an antibiotic may be prescribed. They go on to say that this line of super germs is sweeping the world & the only thing that can be done by the WHO is to run refresher courses on how antibiotics are supposed to be used & remind people that "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger".
This situation kind of reminds people in Pakistan about the events following the official arrival of bird flu in this country. The authorities fell into the habit of shrieking "BIRD FLU!!!" every time anyone sniffed; they went on to forecast certain death for the stubborn sniffer if he didn't hand over the family nest egg in return for a course of Roche's blockbuster drug Tamiflu; Christmas came early for Roche, until Pfizer finally made its voice heard that the much cheaper Vibramycin was a far more effective treatment option. To quote Shakespeare, much ado about nothing.
The last time a super germ swept the world was the Spanish Flu in 1918. That year, the world population was 1.8 billion (1,800,000,000); the Spanish Flu infected approximately 500 million (500,000,000); 20 million to 50 million (20,000,000 - 50,000,000) died; all in the time frame of 8 weeks!
The human race is very grateful that such a situation is not unfolding today. But considering that it isn't, is it possible that the World Health Organization has misinterpreted the situation - perfectly healthy people complaining of extremely uncomfortable symptoms that don't respond to any conventional treatment - & it is not really a result of some supernatural bacterium or virus? Is the WHO absolutely certain that this "global pandemic" is not a case of mass exposure to directed energy weapons? How many lives could have been saved in 1945 if the world had known that exposure to dangerous energy waves may look like a conventional infection or disease but it will not respond to the conventional treatment?
Conclusion
Awareness of the "unforeseen side effects" of directed energy weapons are rapidly becoming common knowledge (primarily because the pool of affectees is rapidly expanding). That means, Raytheon would be wise to have a Plan B for when (not if) the ADS technology is blacklisted. But it is a rare & exceptional human being who understands the importance of making the tough decision before it is out of his or her hands.
Case in point: Dr. Chan's tenure as Director General of the World Health Organization will wind to a close next year (2017); even though she is at the tail end of her stint as head of the WHO, she is faced with a decision that will make or break her legacy in the healthcare sector. She has worked to improve world health for a decade, but at the end of the day, was her management style that of a glorified nurse or did she have the courage to document the cold hard truth?
TO FURTHER ILLUSTRATE THE POINT OF THIS DEBATE, I HAVE TAKEN THE LIBERTY OF REPRODUCING MICHAEL HANLON'S ARTICLE FROM THE DAILY MAIL WEBSITE HERE; THE ORIGINAL CAN BE FOUND AT http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-482560/Run-away-ray-gun-coming--We-test-US-armys-new-secret-weapon.html
Run away the ray-gun is coming : We test US army's new secret weapon
By MICHAEL HANLON
Last updated at 23:21 18 September 2007
"Yes, it's on. Move your finger a bit closer."
"Er ... ow! OW!" Not good. I try again. "OWWW!" I pull my hand away sharpish. My finger is throbbing, but seems undamaged.
I was told people can take it for a second, maximum. No way, not for a wimp like me.
I try it again. It is a bit like touching a red-hot wire, but there is no heat, only the sensation of heat. There is no burn mark or blister.
Its makers claim this infernal machine is the modern face of warfare. It has a nice, friendly sounding name, Silent Guardian.
I am told not to call it a ray-gun, though that is precisely what it is (the term "pain gun" is maybe better, but I suppose they would like that even less).
And, to be fair, the machine is not designed to vaporise, shred, atomise, dismember or otherwise cause permanent harm.
But it is a horrible device nonetheless, and you are forced to wonder what the world has come to when human ingenuity is pressed into service to make a thing like this.
Silent Guardian is making waves in defence circles. Built by the U.S. firm Raytheon, it is part of its "Directed Energy Solutions" programme.
What it amounts to is a way of making people run away, very fast, without killing or even permanently harming them.
That is what the company says, anyway. The reality may turn out to be more horrific.
I tested a table-top demonstration model, but here's how it works in the field.
A square transmitter as big as a plasma TV screen is mounted on the back of a Jeep.
When turned on, it emits an invisible, focused beam of radiation - similar to the microwaves in a domestic cooker - that are tuned to a precise frequency to stimulate human nerve endings.
It can throw a wave of agony nearly half a mile.
Because the beam penetrates skin only to a depth of 1/64th of an inch, it cannot, says Raytheon, cause visible, permanent injury.
But anyone in the beam's path will feel, over their entire body, the agonising sensation I've just felt on my fingertip. The prospect doesn't bear thinking about.
"I have been in front of the full-sized system and, believe me, you just run. You don't have time to think about it - you just run," says George Svitak, a Raytheon executive.
Silent Guardian is supposed to be the 21st century equivalent of tear gas or water cannon - a way of getting crowds to disperse quickly and with minimum harm. Its potential is obvious.
"In Iraq, there was a situation when combatants had taken media as human shields. The battalion commander told me there was no way of separating combatants from non-combatants without lethal force," Mr Svitak tells me.
He says this weapon would have made it possible because everyone, friend or foe, would have run from it.
In tests, even the most hardened Marines flee after a few seconds of exposure. It just isn't possible to tough it out.
This machine has the ability to inflict limitless, unbearable pain.
What makes it OK, says Raytheon, is that the pain stops as soon as you are out of the beam or the machine is turned off.
But my right finger was tingling hours later - was that psychosomatic?
So what is the problem? All right, it hurts, but then so do tear gas and water cannon and they have been used by the world's police and military for decades.
Am I being squeamish?
One thing is certain: not just the Silent Guardian, but weapons such as the Taser, the electric stun-gun, are being rolled out by Britain's police forces as the new way of controlling people by using pain.
And, as the Raytheon chaps all insist, you always have the option to get out of the way (just as you have the option to comply with the police officer's demands and not get Tasered).
But there is a problem: mission creep. This is the Americanism which describes what happens when, over time, powers or techniques are used to ends not stated or even imagined when they were devised.
With the Taser, the rules in place in Britain say it must be used only as an alternative to the gun. But what happens in ten or 20 years if a new government chooses to amend these rules?
It is so easy to see the Taser being used routinely to control dissent and pacify - as, indeed, already happens in the U.S.
And the Silent Guardian? Raytheon's Mac Jeffery says it is being looked at only by the "North American military and its allies" and is not being sold to countries with questionable human rights records.
An MoD spokesman said Britain is not planning to buy this weapon.
In fact, it is easy to see the raygun being used not as an alternative to lethal force (when I can see that it is quite justified), but as an extra weapon in the battle against dissent.
Because it is, in essence, a simple machine, it is easy to see similar devices being pressed into service in places with extremely dubious reputations.
There are more questions: in tests, volunteers have been asked to remove spectacles and contact lenses before being microwaved. Does this imply these rays are not as harmless as Raytheon insists?
What happens when someone with a weak heart is zapped?
And, perhaps most worryingly, what if deployment of Silent Guardian causes mass panic, leaving some people unable to flee in the melee? Will they just be stuck there roasting?
Raytheon insists the system is set up to limit exposure, but presumably these safeguards can be over-ridden.
Silent Guardian and the Taser are just the first in a new wave of "non-lethal" weaponry being developed, mostly in the U.S.
These include not only microwave ray-guns, but the terrifying Pulsed Energy Projectile weapon. This uses a powerful laser which, when it hits someone up to 11/2 miles away, produces a "plasma" - a bubble of superhot gas - on the skin.
A report in New Scientist claimed the focus of research was to heighten the pain caused by this semi-classified weapon.
And a document released under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act talks of "optimal pulse parameters to evoke peak nociceptor activation" - i.e. cause the maximum agony possible, leaving no permanent damage.
Perhaps the most alarming prospect is that such machines would make efficient torture instruments.
They are quick, clean, cheap, easy to use and, most importantly, leave no marks. What would happen if they fell into the hands of unscrupulous nations where torture is not unknown?
The agony the Raytheon gun inflicts is probably equal to anything in a torture chamber - these waves are tuned to a frequency exactly designed to stimulate the pain nerves.
I couldn't hold my finger next to the device for more than a fraction of a second. I could make the pain stop, but what if my finger had been strapped to the machine?
Dr John Wood, a biologist at UCL and an expert in the way the brain perceives pain, is horrified by the new pain weapons.
"They are so obviously useful as torture instruments," he says.
"It is ethically dubious to say they are useful for crowd control when they will obviously be used by unscrupulous people for torture."
We use the word "medieval" as shorthand for brutality. The truth is that new technology makes racks look benign.
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