by Qutb » Fri Sep 02, 2005 11:10 am
"In mid-90's morning heat at Edwards Air Force Base, HPV Technologies and American Technology demonstrated prototypes of non-lethal sonic devices for a group of military and law enforcement guests, including representatives of the U.K. Home Office.<br><br>Representatives of both companies say that <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>within days</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->, they will ship some units of their respective products to areas hit by Hurricane Katrina, so authorities can use the tools for <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>crowd control</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->, aid distribution and rescue operations.<br><br>Costa Mesa, California-based HPV showed off three sizes of its Magnetic Acoustic Device, or MAD, a black square panel composed of multiple speakers. The units on display ranged from about 4 to 10 feet across.<br><br>The device uses magnets approximately 6 inches tall and 9.25 inches wide to convert electrical pulses into sound waves, and is capable of aiming sound precisely for thousands of feet -- like the sonic equivalent of a laser, or spotlight. <br><br>Its path and reach can be affected by environmental factors such as nearby flat surfaces, hills, bodies of water or strong bursts of wind.<br><br>A series of test sounds beamed out by MAD, including gunfire, music and instructional commands, were audible and intelligible at distances of up to a mile. <br><br>When a subject is at close range in MAD's sonic path, and it is set to high volume, the sound can be excruciating." <br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,68732,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1">wired.com/news/technology..._tophead_1</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>I may be reading too much into this, but it seems like there are preparations for some serious "crowd control" some days from now. <p><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:black;font-family:century gothic;font-size:x-small;"><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Qutb means "axis," "pole," "the center," which contains the periphery or is present in it. The qutb is a spiritual being, or function, which can reside in a human being or several human beings or a moment. It is the elusive mystery of how the divine gets delegated into the manifest world and obviously cannot be defined.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--></span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><br><br></p><i></i>