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N7GCW > VETS 26.03.05 01:50l 79 Lines 3766 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: New laser weapon to be used in combat
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NewScientist.com
Maximum pain is aim of new US weapon
* 19:00 02 March 2005
* Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition
* David Hambling
The US military is funding development of a weapon that delivers a bout of
excruciating pain from up to 2 kilometres away. Intended for use against
rioters, it is meant to leave victims unharmed. But pain researchers are
furious that work aimed at controlling pain has been used to develop a
weapon. And they fear that the technology will be used for torture.
"I am deeply concerned about the ethical aspects of this research," says
Andrew Rice, a consultant in pain medicine at Chelsea and Westminster
Hospital in London, UK. "Even if the use of temporary severe pain can be
justified as a restraining measure, which I do not believe it can, the
long-term physical and psychological effects are unknown."
The research came to light in documents unearthed by the Sunshine Project,
an organisation based in Texas and in Hamburg, Germany, that exposes
biological weapons research. The papers were released under the US's Freedom
of Information Act.
One document, a research contract between the Office of Naval Research and
the University of Florida in Gainesville, US, is entitled "Sensory
consequences of electromagnetic pulses emitted by laser induced plasmas".
It concerns so-called Pulsed Energy Projectiles (PEPs), which fire a laser
pulse that generates a burst of expanding plasma when it hits something
solid, like a person (New Scientist print edition, 12 October 2002). The
weapon, destined for use in 2007, could literally knock rioters off their
feet.
Pain trigger
According to a 2003 review of non-lethal weapons by the US Naval Studies
Board, which advises the navy and marine corps, PEPs produced "pain and
temporary paralysis" in tests on animals. This appears to be the result of
an electromagnetic pulse produced by the expanding plasma which triggers
impulses in nerve cells.
The new study, which runs until July and will be carried out with
researchers at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, aims to
optimise this effect. The idea is to work out how to generate a pulse which
triggers pain neurons without damaging tissue.
The contract, heavily censored before release, asks researchers to look for
"optimal pulse parameters to evoke peak nociceptor activation" - in other
words, cause the maximum pain possible. Studies on cells grown in the lab
will identify how much pain can be inflicted on someone before causing
injury or death.
Long-term risk
New Scientist contacted two researchers working on the project. Martin
Richardson, a laser expert at the University of Central Florida, US, refused
to comment. Brian Cooper, an expert in dental pain at the University of
Florida, distanced himself from the work, saying "I don't have anything
interesting to convey. I was just providing some background for the group."
His name appears on a public list of the university's research projects next
to the $500,000-plus grant.
John Wood of University College London, UK, an expert in how the brain
perceives pain, says the researchers involved in the project should face
censure. "It could be used for torture," he says, "the [researchers] must be
aware of this."
Amanda Williams, a clinical psychologist at University College London, fears
that victims risk long-term harm. "Persistent pain can result from a range
of supposedly non-destructive stimuli which nevertheless change the
functioning of the nervous system," she says. She is concerned that studies
of cultured cells will fall short of demonstrating a safe level for a plasma
burst. "They cannot tell us about the pain and psychological consequences of
such a painful experience."
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