Re: High-tech weaponry

Michael S. Lorrey (mike@lorrey.com)
Mon, 14 Jun 1999 16:39:26 -0400

Brian D Williams wrote:

> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>
> From: "Raymond G. Van De Walker" <rgvandewalker@juno.com>
>
> >I want a gun that shoots ethical flechettes. That is, the gun has
> >the situational awareness at least of a policeman that's hiding in
> >your pocket or handbag. It talks to the ammunition. Of course,
> >the gun would talk with you.

You could even pick the personality you wanted in your HEI: Revolutionary HEI:"Argh, don't shoot till you see the whites of his eyes!" G. Gordon Liddy HEI: "If they're ATF, shoot 'em right between the eyes!" Justice Warren HEI: "I can't define a threatening situation, but I know it when I see it!"
Janet Reno HEI:"Do it for the children.." Carl Sagan HEI:"Make him see billliunz and billliunz of stars..." Hillary Clinton HEI:"It takes a village to decide if this situation warrants the use of force..."
Gibson HEI:"The criminals are here, they are just not evenly distributed..." Extropic HEI:"Best do it so..."

> >I calculated that a human-equivalent-intelligence (HEI) would fit
> >into several thousand cubic microns, and with quantum
> >intelligence, it could run several thousand times as fast as human
> >time. (mechanical is smaller, but slower)
>
> >With good nanotech, we can also have lasers running off a
> >phased-array on a flechette, so we can get a pin-hole microarray
> >radar that's not too constrained by the reolution radius of its
> >antenna.
>
> >You shoot it, and the flechettes decide what to do, and the gun is
> >the witness, and sends signed e-mail to the police on the wireless
> >internet using micropower pulse radio.
>
> >If you're a bad guy, a dumb kid, or a drunk, or tampered with the
> >gun, the flechettes refuse to fire. or tumble at mach 8 and
> >self-destruct, because they're inherently unstable.
>
> >If you're a good guy, the flechettes cause the least possible
> >damage that will let you get away, shoot the deer that's kicking
> >your kid, hunt, hit the 9 ring of the paper target, or whatever.

Actually, interestingly enough, small projectiles don't shock the body nearly as much, even when using equal or more energy. According to Massood Ayoob, your 1911 .45 ACP with black talon rounds provides excellent stopping power, with LESS chance of killing a perp than with a smaller caliber like a .22, .32, .38, .380, .40 or even 9 mm. The smaller the caliber, the less you shock the perp, but your chance of killing them is higher, because the projectile is going to fragment and bounce around inside the target more. Because the perp is not shocked by the impact of a small caliber, they are more likely to be able to continue coming after you. Large calibers will knock the guy over and keep him down, but is less likely to kill him.

> >The magazines rebuild the flechettes from CO2 and water in the

> >air, plus electricity. Maybe this takes a while, if the only
> >solar cell is the surface of the gun. That way, in a survival
> >situation, the gun is self-provisioning.

Ah, using the SHAKK technology. SHAKK was a little more realistic. Feed dirt into it to get silicon and metals.

Interesting and excellent post.

>
> When I was a kid I was fascinated by electric eels. I was convinced
> that it was just a matter of time when the biological realm fell to
> the skills of engineers. I wrote a piece in 8th grade where I
> fantasized about people with newly grown organs and the defensive
> capability of large electric eels. I included what I knew about the
> insulation the eels possessed that kept them from frying
> themselves.

Are electric eels immune to shocks from each other??? 

--
TANSTAAFL!!!

Michael S. Lorrey
Owner, Lorrey Systems
http://www.lorrey.com
ArtLocate.Com
http://www.artlocate.com
Director, Grafton County Fish & Game Assoc.
http://www.lorrey.com/gcfga/
Member, Extropy Institute
http://www.extropy.org
Member, National Rifle Association
http://www.nra.org
"Live Free or Die, Death is not the Worst of Evils."
                  - General John Stark