(I have a real bad feeling about this.......rf) For over 30 years, Barry Fox has trawled the world's weird and wonderful patent applications each week, digging out the most exciting, intriguing and even terrifying new ideas. His column, Invention, is now available exclusively online. Please send us your feedback. Shock tactics
Patents filed by an Israeli inventor Amit Weisman and US company Yardeni Associates of Connecticut make scary reading for nervous travellers. Airport security guards already use hand-held electromagnetic wands to detect metal hidden under clothing. The same wand can also sniff for traces of the gases some explosives emit into the air. If the passenger is a suicide bomber who realises the wand has found something, the guard might not have enough time to pull out handcuffs or a gun. So the new wand will have a hidden secret a transformer which steps the detector¹s battery power up to 100 kilovolts and feeds it to disguised metal electrodes at the end of the wand. If the wand gives a silent warning of explosives, the guard can then subtly slide the pads onto the passenger¹s neck or hands and press a shock button. The patent reassures that the effect is ³temporary and reversible². So an innocent traveller who ³happened to have a significant amount of metal on his person or happened to treat explosives legally² should wake up shaken but unharmed. Read the shocking wand patent here (pdf file). http://tinyurl.com/c3l8m You are a subscribed member of the infowarrior list. Visit www.infowarrior.org for list information or to unsubscribe. This message may be redistributed freely in its entirety. Any and all copyrights appearing in list messages are maintained by their respective owners.
