Fed2 Star - the newsletter for the space trading game Federation 2

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by ibgames

EARTHDATE: December 15, 2013

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REAL LIFE NEWS: EMP TO BRING ROGUE CARS TO A HALT

by Hazed

EMP is a high-tech weapon used in thriller novels and films – such as Ocean’s Eleven, where it shuts down the power in Las Vegas allowing the film’s protagonists to carry out a heist. But can it be used in real life?

EMP stands for electromagnetic pulse, and it’s a burst of radiation that damages electrical and electronic systems. Its most extreme form is as by-product of a nuclear explosion: a warhead detonated hundreds of miles above the Earth’s surface will, it is assumed, cause widespread failures.

But what about its use in more controlled, local situations?

A British company thinks that is possible to use it with precision. It’s developed a device that can stop cars using a blast of electromagnetic waves, which should “confuse” a vehicle’s electronic systems and cut its engine.

The product is called the RF Safe-Stop, and the company who developed it, EV2, thinks its primary use would be as a non-lethal way for the military to defend against vehicles which refuse to stop. The prototype was demonstrated recently at an airfield, where it was used against various different cars and motorbikes. There’s a video at the source link below.

Whether it works under real world conditions remains to be seen. If it does, then I can see terrorists suddenly becoming very interested in obtaining vintage cars that don’t run using electronics!

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25197786
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_pulse_in_fiction_and_popular_culture

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