Russia's 'zombie ray gun' program
Are we on the brink of an arms race over zombie ray guns? You might think so, based on the alarms being rung over Russia's potential to create mind-scrambling weapons. But the reality is that it'll be a long time before we have to worry about super-soldiers taking over our brains.
The Americans as well as the Russians have been looking into psychotronic weapons for more than 15 years. You can find ample references to the subject on the Internet, including a feature published by U.S. News and World Report in 1997 and a report written for a U.S. Army publication in 1998.
Such weapons purport to take advantage of the effect that pulsed microwaves can have on brain activity. Some researchers have reported an effect known as microwave hearing, in which a directed beam of radiation produces a sensation of buzzing, clicking or hissing in the head. "This technology in its crudest form could be used to distract individuals," according to a declassified Army review of non-lethal weapons.
Theoretically, electromagnetic beams could cause an epileptic-type seizure, or involuntary eye motion leading to dizziness and nausea. Military researchers have also looked into using infrasound or laser beams to confuse or incapacitate a foe — but when you start going down this road, before you know it, you're talking about remote viewing, ESP and all the way-out concepts chronicled in "The Men Who Stare at Goats."
The Russians have looked into these potential technologies at least as deeply as the Pentagon has, and you're hearing about zombie ray guns now because top Russian officials started talking about psychotronic weapons a couple of weeks ago. That has brought the subject back from the dead like a ... well, you know.
Moscow is planning to set up an advanced military research agency similar to the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov referred to those plans on March 22. Here's what the RIA Novosti news agency quoted him as saying during a meeting with Prime Minister (and President-elect) Vladimir Putin:
"The development of weaponry based on new physics principles — direct-energy weapons, geophysical weapons, wave-energy weapons, genetic weapons, psychotronic weapons, etc. — is part of the state arms procurement program for 2011-2020 ... We will draft the proposals for the next program by December 2012."
Putin, who begins his presidential term next month, pledged during the campaign that he would beef up Russia's military. In February, he laid out his national security plan in an article published by Rossiiskaya Gazeta. At the time, most of the news reports picked up on Putin's call for almost $770 billion in spending over the course of a decade to modernize the armed forces. But Putin also observed that the current balance of power, held in place by nuclear arsenals, could well shift in the future due to new technologies. It was in that context that he brought up the psychotronic angle:
"The military capability of a country in space or information countermeasures, especially in cyberspace, will play a great, if not decisive, role in determining the nature of an armed conflict. In the more distant future, weapons systems based on new principles (beam, geophysical, wave, genetic, psychophysical and other technology) will be developed. All this will, in addition to nuclear weapons, provide entirely new instruments for achieving political and strategic goals. Such high-tech weapons systems will be comparable in effect to nuclear weapons but will be more 'acceptable' in terms of political and military ideology. In this sense, the strategic balance of nuclear forces will play a gradually diminishing role in deterring aggression and chaos."
In the wake of Serdyukov's comments, folks dredged up Putin's reference to "psychophysical" weapons, added in some background about the research into electromagnetic mind control, and voila: the zombie ray gun. Last week, Britain's Daily Mail suggested that the guns "could be used against Russia's enemies and, perhaps, its own dissidents by the end of the decade."
The Mail also quoted Anatoly Tsyganov, head of the Military Forecasting Center in Moscow, as saying microwaves could make for "a highly serious weapon":
"When it was used for dispersing a crowd and it was focused on a man, his body temperature went up immediately as if he was thrown into a hot frying pan. Still, we know very little about this weapon and even special forces guys can hardly cope with it."
Based on that comment, Tsyganov was apparently talking about a different kind of non-lethal weapon, an analog to the millimeter-wave "pain ray" that the U.S. military has been working on for years. As we noted a couple of weeks ago, the beam of radiation can be directed at a crowd, producing a severe burning sensation on the skin that forces the target to jump away instinctively.
How fast can mad scientists work?
There are a few problems with the pain-ray technology: It takes hours to build up enough power for the beam generator, and the system reportedly works only in clear atmospheric conditions. Nevertheless, testing of the "Silent Guardian" system is continuing, not only for military applications but also for use against oceangoing pirates and rioting prisoners.
The bottom line is that Russia certainly seems to be on track to set up its own DARPA-like "Department of Mad Scientists," working on heat rays, mind-altering electromagnetic beams and heaven knows what else. But there's nothing in the comments from Putin and Serdyukov to suggest that the Russians are anywhere close to having psychotronic weapons. In fact, Putin makes it sound as if the next frontier in warfare won't be the zombie ray gun but the coordinated cyber-attack. And that's scary enough for me.
What do you think? Please feel free to register your opinion in the unscientific poll above, and the comment space below. - msnbc
The E-Bomb: How America's New Directed Energy Weapons Will Change the Way Future Wars Will Be Fought
**********
Mysterious UFO shocked plane passengers as it was filmed zooming around them
Click for video
A mysterious round white object was filmed whizzing around a passenger plane above Seoul, the capital of South Korea, on April 7.
The clip, which has been uploaded to YouTube, begins with the ‘craft’ at the bottom of the screen, keeping pace with the passenger plane.
But then it speeds up and rises in altitude before zipping off out of shot, just as the startled person filming it tries to zoom in for a closer look.
When the UFO accelerates he can be heard making some sort of exclamation, as if trying to draw someone’s attention to it.
'Authentic alien artifact': Why is a Smithsonian-linked museum showing 'real' bits of UFOs?
The video was uploaded by YouTube user ‘Crazybreakingnews’, who commented: ‘It looks a little bit strange and not really similar to the other videos. If it's really real and not a fake, it looks like a kind of military drone.’
Several YouTube users are convinced it’s a UFO of some sort, but others remain sceptical.
Psued0Name said: ‘When stabilised, it is easy to see what is going on with the video.
‘The edges of the UFO are not blurred like all of the other background objects, it seems like a separate effect from the background, and in fact you can see edge noise on the shape of the UFO indicating it's a fake.
‘It doesn't even look right if you start to look at it hard, especially slowed down frame by frame.’
User vicariousjojoe agreed, writing: ‘People, you should know by now what is fake and what's not. You can always tell by the way the camera moves and zooms.’
Possible UFO activity has recently been sighted much closer to home, with a star-gazer filming intriguing footage of a glowing UFO, which he says he spotted hovering over the Thames Estuary in February.
The man, identified only as Space999dude, recorded the phenomenon as he drove past the river at night, he said.
The mysterious, oval aircraft can be seen suspended in the air displaying several amber-gold lights of varying sizes. - dailymail
UFOs in Wartime: What They Didn't Want You To Know
- I highly recommend this book! Lon**********
An Indiana man had his scrotum severely torn when his “on-again, off-again” girlfriend entered his home and pummeled him in an attack that resulted in the woman’s arrest on several criminal charges, including two felonies. Christina Reber, 43, was freed from jail after posting $10,000 bond in connection with her bust for the alleged attack last Friday at the Muncie house of her ex-beau (who told police he had ended the couple’s eight-month relationship days before the assault).
The victim, 57, told police that he was working at his computer when Reber “walked into his house uninvited,” according to a Muncie Police Department report. The man said Reber screamed at him to “call the f*cking police” before launching her assault. Reber, the victim told officers, first struck him repeatedly in the head before latching onto his scrotum and “squeezing as hard as she could.” The man, interviewed by police at a hospital emergency room, said that he “was in incredible pain when Reber grabbed his scrotum and began digging in her fingers.”
The victim recalled that Reber “refused to let go of his scrotum,” but that he was “finally able to pry his scrotum from Reber’s hand” after they fell to the ground during the scuffle. The man then called an ambulance, which transported him to Ball Memorial Hospital. An officer reported that the man had blood on his shirt and “a long wide tear on his scrotum,” which had been “completely torn loose from his body.”
In a follow-up interview two days after the incident, the victim told police that his scrotum was “so swollen he is unable to walk and is missing work.” The man added that his scrotum “is still bleeding and doctors are not sure if there is permanent damage to his groin or not.” Reber was charged with aggravated battery and illegally entering the victim’s home, both felonies. She was also charged with a misdemeanor domestic battery, according to an affidavit. Reber is next due in court on April 30. - thesmokinggun
Give A Gift They'll Never Forget!
**********
Click for video
According to the Department of Emergency Situations of Karaganda oblast, building No.7 of Bessoba region collapsed at 10:55 a.m.
The 5-storied building had 8 entrances, four of them collapsed. The total number of apartments in the building is 120, Tengrinews.kz reports. According to the preliminary information, 65 apartments collapsed. Residents had moved in into 38 of them, the 27 were still unoccupied.
17 apartments in the collapsed building were awarded as part of the state housing program. Where as many of the mortgages were issued by Eurasian Bank.
According to Karaganda Emergency Situations Department, 100-percent of people had been evacuated from the building. Property had been moved out from these 120 apartments before the collapse. The total of 111 people were evacuated.
Before the collapse the building was tilting to one side for several days. Starting with a small crack the inadmissible deviation of the building's corners reached 720 mm between April 1 and April 5.
Tengrinews.kz reports from the accident site that the building is laying in ruins, cordons are around the site. Police officers, National Security Department officers and Emergency Situations Department's experts are near the building, checking that there are no victims. The building's residents are gathering around the building. Authorities are arriving as well. The experts are waiting for special vehicles. One of the residents felt bad and was provided with the required medical aid.
"Special prosecutor of Karaganda oblast has initiated a criminal case on the fact of the building collapse under article 307, part 4 of Kazakhstan Criminal Code, i.e. misuse of authorities," press-secretary of Karaganda oblast Prosecutor's office Yerlan Zhanpeissov said.
Commenting the accident, Karaganda oblast Emergency Situations Department stated: "The collapse of section No.2 of the building did not damage section No.1 of the building (entrances 1, 2, 3 and 4) or the neighboring buildings. There are no secondary damage factors (fire, power shocks, flooding).
Construction officials have checked the neighboring section of the building and concluded that there was no threat of it collapsing as well. In several hours residents of the neighboring buildings will be allowed back into their apartments. Neighboring buildings will be additionally inspected in the nearest two weeks.
Additional police forces have been brought to the site and double cordoning has been arranged. The dog handlers are working at the site.
Karaganda Akim (Mayor) said that residents have been provided an office in the city administration building, where they can gather together to discuss compensations payment.
The city administration will pay the residents a compensation of 300 million tenge ($2 million). There will also be an option to receive an apartment in new buildings in different regions of the city.
Tengrinews.kz reports from the accident site that the Akim (Mayor) arrived to the accident site. He promised compensation to the residents for their loss. He also promised to protect the building from pillage.
"The investigation has revealed that Servispromsnab company constructed this Bessoba residential complex as an equity construction project (the construction was partly funded from the money prepaid by the future residents). In 2007-2010 the company received the money from the future owners, but the Mr. Malyanov, director of the company, disappeared with part of the money even before construction of some of the company's projects was fully completed," press-secretary of Karaganda oblast financial police department Gulzhan Suleimenova said.
Andrey Malyanov has been on the international wanted list since last summer. His company is over 300 million tenge ($2 million) in debt to banks on loan repayments.
Earlier Tengrinews.kz reported that Bessoba residential complex in Karaganda was expected to collapsed any moment. The state of the bearing structures of the building were rated as "emergency condition" and the threat of collapse was officially acknowledged.
The multi-apartment residential building, constructed at the cost of the interest participants (future owners), was put into operation in 2009. The building started cracking because of displacement of the main structures. A state of emergency was introduced in the building. The residents were evacuated. - tengrinews
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Widescreen Edition)
**********
'Universal' cancer vaccine developed
The therapy, which targets a molecule found in 90 per cent of all cancers, could provide a universal injection that allows patients' immune systems to fight off common cancers including breast and prostate cancer.
Preliminary results from early clinical trials have shown the vaccine can trigger an immune response in patients and reduce levels of disease.
The scientists behind the vaccine now hope to conduct larger trials in patients to prove it can be effective against a range of different cancers.
They believe it could be used to combat small tumours if they are detected early enough or to help prevent the return and spread of disease in patients who have undergone other forms of treatment such as surgery.
Cancer cells usually evade patient's immune systems because they are not recognised as being a threat. While the immune system usually attacks foreign cells such as bacteria, tumours are formed of the patient's own cells that have malfunctioned.
Scientists have, however, found that a molecule called MUC1, which is found in high amounts on the surface of cancer cells, can be used to help the immune system detect tumours.
The new vaccine, developed by drug company Vaxil Biotheraputics along with researchers at Tel Aviv University, uses a small section of the molecule to prime the immune system so that it can identify and destroy cancer cells.
A statement from Vaxil Biotheraputics said: "ImMucin generated a robust and specific immune response in all patients which was observed after only 2-4 doses of the vaccine out of a maximum of 12 doses.
"In some of the patients, preliminary signs of clinical efficacy were observed."
The results are still to be formally published but if further trials prove to be successful the vaccine could be available within six years.
As a therapeutic vaccine it is designed to be given to patients who are already suffering from cancer to help their bodies fight off the disease rather than to prevent disease in the first place.
Cancer cells contain high levels of MUC1 as it is thought to be involved helping tumours grow. Healthy human cells also contain MUC1, but have levels that are too low to trigger the immune system after vaccination.
When a vaccinated patient's immune system encounters cancer cells, however, the far larger concentration of MUC1 causes it to attack and kill the tumour.
As MUC1 is found in 90 per cent of all cancers, the researchers believe it could be used to combat the growth and spread of a wide range of cancers.
In a safety trial at the Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem, ten patients suffering from multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, have now received the vaccine.
Seven of the patients have now finished the treatment and Vaxil reported that all of them had greater immunity against cancer cells compared to before they were given the vaccine.
Vaxil added that three patients are now free of detectable cancer following the treatment.
The findings support research published in the journal Vaccine, which showed the treatment induced "potent" immunity in mice and increased their survival from cancer.
Cancer charities have given the vaccine a cautious welcome, but warned further testing was needed before it could be approved for widespread use.
There are currently a number of other therapeutic vaccines against cancer being tested, but they have met with limited success.
Dr Kat Arney, science information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: "There are several groups around the world investigating treatments that target MUC1, as it's a very interesting target involved in several types of cancer.
"These are very early results that are yet to be fully published, so there's a lot more work to be done to prove that this particular vaccine is safe and effective in cancer patients." - telegraph
Hope in the Face of Cancer: A Survival Guide for the Journey You Did Not Choose
One Renegade Cell: How Cancer Begins (Science Masters Series)
