Loudhailer or weapon?

Wed, 14 May 2008 17:02:40 GMT

clipped by: mona
clipper's remarks: Very interesting read. Does anyone know more about this?

Loudhailer or weapon?

There was a surprising appearance at CIEPE, the Asia-Pacific Police Logistics and Equipment expo in Beijing last month.

Amongst the displays of high-tech police equipment was the LRAD - Long Range Acoustic Device ??? made by American Technology Corporation (ATC). LRAD is an ultra-high-power loudhailer that can be used for crowd control, often described by the media as a "sonic weapon". It was famously used to drive off Somali pirates in 2005.

LRAD's appearance seems at first surprising, since the US does not permit weapons exports to China. Public Law 101-246, passed after the Tiananmen Square massacre, makes them illegal.

In the US military, LRAD deployment is overseen by the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, who refer to it as a "tool" and "an option in the force continuum".

lungless frog

Wed, 14 May 2008 17:00:49 GMT

clipped by: mona

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

World's only lungless frog leaves scientists gasping

An unassuming little frog from Borneo has been found to have an exceedingly rare anatomical feature – introducing Barbourula kalimantanensis, the only known frog with no lungs.

The Bornean flat-headed frog gets all of its oxygen through its skin. Local gold-mining operations, however, are fast polluting the streams where the frog lives.

Lunglessness is extremely rare in amphibians because, although the animals breathe through their skin, the method delivers only a fraction of the oxygen provided by lungs. It is only practical for cold-blooded animals, which use far less energy than mammals.

he clear, cold, fast-flowing streams they live in made this change possible.

But deforestation and illegal gold mining is making the streams warm and sluggish – hostile habitat for the Bornean flat-headed frog.

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Loudhailer or weapon?