Death Rays Research Articles

From death rays to antimatter

Bruno Touschek was an Austrian-born theoretical physicist who proposed what became the world’s first circular particle collider. But as Giulia Pancheri describes, few colleagues were aware of a dark past, which saw him work on a “death-ray” device for the Nazi military.

«Дьявольские лучи» в повести М.А. Булгакова «Роковые яйца»: об одной модной литературной теме в научной фантастике 1920-х годов

Science fiction literature of the 1920s connected with the topic of heat rays is studied. Begun in the novel of Herbert George Wells “The War of the Worlds” (1897) and in the novel of A.F. Ossendowski “Brig “Horror” (1913), in the decade after October Revolution it became more widely distributed. In each work heat rays got its name: “death rays” in the novel of H. Dominik (1921), “violet rays” in the novel of V.P. Kataev “The Island of Erendorf” (1924), “red ray”, or “life ray” in the novel of M.A. Bulgakov “The Fatal Eggs” (1924), heat rays in the novel of A.N. Tolstoy “The Garin Death Ray” (1926–1927), “orange ray” in the novel of A.F. Paley “Gulfstream” (1927). In all literary works, including pre-revolutionary ones (except for the last one – “Gulfstream”), the heat ray played an extremely negative role in the development of humanity and civilization. The Martians were the first to use weapons to destroy humanity, then the ray fell into the hands of brilliant scientists. The ray, created by brilliant scientists, most often end up in the hands of self-interested and obsessed people, and Russian writers brought a serious doubt to the scientistic aspirations of the human mind. This theme ran parallel to the road of modern re-search and discoveries in the field of science and technology: in the world laser weapons were be-ing developed as weapons of mass destruction for the future wars of a planetary scale. In the So-viet press, it was “baptized” as the “diabolic rays”, and most important – they tried to implement into the field of social transformations in society, which brought the October Revolution, plans on establishing a socialist system on the entire planet. The central place is given for the novel M.A. Bulgakov’s “The Fatal Eggs”, which absorbed not only the achievements of modern science and technology, not just fantasies of writers – predecessors and contemporaries, but also allusions on the occult motifs in literature and culture: black magic of doctor Faust from the drama-miracle play of J.W. Goethe “Faust”, spells from the “Egyptian Book of the Dead”, old Russian ritual “Troyetsyplyatnitsa”, the egg motif “ad ovo”. Numerous occult details in the story tell about the mechanism of the “red ray”.

Dreaming of death rays: the search for laser weapons

Lasers have long held allure for physics, the military and science fiction, finds Luke Fleet. Lasers have long held allure for physics, the military and science fiction, finds Luke Fleet.

New sources of gravitational wave signals: The black hole graviton laser

A graviton laser works, in principle, by the stimulated emission of coherent gravitons from a lasing medium. For significant amplification, we must have a very long path length and/or very high densities. Black holes and the existence of weakly interacting sub-eV dark matter particles (WISPs) solve both of these obstacles. Orbiting trajectories for massless particles around black holes are well understood [C. Misner, K. Thorne and J. Wheeler, Gravitation (W. H Freeman, 1973)]1 and allow for arbitrarily long graviton path lengths. Superradiance from Kerr black holes of WISPs can provide the sufficiently high density [A. Arvanitaki, M. Baryakhtar and X. Huang, Phys. Rev. D 91 (2015) 084011, arXiv:1411.2263 ]2. This suggests that black holes can act as efficient graviton lasers. Thus directed graviton laser beams have been emitted since the beginning of the universe and give rise to new sources of gravitational wave signals. To be in the path of particularly harmfully amplified graviton death rays will not be pleasant.

From Death Rays to Light Sabers: Making Laser Weapons Surgically Precise

This paper explores how, in the two decades following the laser's invention, the popular image of the laser weapon was transformed from a terrifying "death ray" capable of contaminating large areas to a surgically precise tool and rationale for a major new defense program. Whereas previous histories of the laser treat its popularizations as irrelevant to real-world developments, this account emphasizes that mass media provide sites for scientists and engineers to vie for control over the meaning and direction of technological development. It shows how the laser as a symbol came to link two very different applications: the everyday use of low-energy lasers to increase the "precision" of technologies, and the experimental development of high-energy lasers that would be destructive. I argue that the symbolic appeal of laser weapons made the laser a central part of President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative or "Star Wars" missile defense program.

Half a Century of Laser Weapons

Even before the laser was invented, science fiction writers saw rich potential in the use of light-beam “death rays” as powerful tools of destruction. But the real history of directed-energy weapons in the United States has been fraught with political and technical challenges and setbacks.

Myers M, Pineda D. Do Vaccines Cause That?! A Guide for Evaluating Vaccine Safety Concerns. Immunizations for Public Health (I4PH) Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-9769027-1-3; US$14.95

In each province and territory across Canada, the implementation of universal publicly funded vaccine programs has led to a remarkable decline of many infectious diseases that previously regularly sent shock waves (paralytic polio) and death rays (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles and Haemophilus influenzae meningitis) into communities. Long-term success in controlling these scourges here in Canada means that most parents, and even many physicians and health care providers, are now no longer familiar with the terrible consequences of these diseases. Unfortunately, most vaccine-preventable diseases are still out there – either locally (tetanus and pertussis) or internationally, just a plane ride away. Each is able to snap back to pick off the unimmunized or underimmunized, if the opportunity arises. Despite these risks, many in Canada are complacent about the need for vaccines, and some fear the risks of vaccines so much as to refuse vaccines for their children. The parental grapevine fuelled by the Internet is rife with misinformation about vaccines – both the benefits and the risks. This pocket book by Meyers and Pineda from the National Network for Immunization Information (NNii) –an affiliation of the American academic medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, was written to help parents understand the confusing information on the Internet and in the media. It is an excellent companion to the Canadian Paediatric Society’s book, Your Child’s Best Shot – A Parent’s Guide to Vaccination . Your Child’s Best Shot – A Parent’s Guide to Vaccination is centred on chapters discussing each illness prevented, and the benefits and risks of vaccine, followed by an excellent vaccine question and answer chapter. Do Vaccines Cause That?! A Guide for Evaluating Vaccine Safety Concerns does not cover specific diseases and vaccines; section 1 provides thoughtful, articulate explanations on how best to weigh and evaluate what one reads and hears about vaccines (chapters on vaccine side effects and risk perception, cause or coincidence, missing information and technical jargon, how do I find the right information in the first place, etc). The second section has four chapters dealing with specific concerns: Do vaccines cause asthma? Do vaccines cause autism? Do vaccines cause damage to the immune system? and Other vaccine concerns. While written for American readers, Canadian parents and health care providers will find this an excellent primer for understanding causality and for assessing vaccine information. Both Your Child’s Best Shot – A Parent’s Guide to Vaccination and Do Vaccines Cause That?! A Guide for Evaluating Vaccine Safety Concerns are a must read for the paediatrician and family physician, and are excellent bookshelf resources for dealing with vexing vaccine issues that parents raise.

Still dazzled after all these years

In 1948, a phantasmal killer stalked Americans: thousands of motorists were dying on roads from what The New York Times described as “death rays”. Overcome by a blinding light – a “death dazzle” – they piled into oncoming traffic and telephone poles. But these death rays were not the stuff of fiction: they were headlights. As early as 1920, federal officials had declared the blinding glare of car headlights the country's “chief road peril”. A peril, that was, to everyone except those driving a handful of cars in New York City. Owned by Edwin Land, the founder of Polaroid, these cars were mysteriously impervious to the rays. Had Land solved the greatest road safety puzzle of his time?

Book Reviews MicroReviews by the Book Review Editor: Death Rays, Jet Packs, Stunts & Supercars: The Fantastic Physics of Film's Most Celebrated Secret Agent: Barry Parker

Book Reviews MicroReviews by the Book Review Editor: <i>Death Rays, Jet Packs, Stunts &amp; Supercars: The Fantastic Physics of Film's Most Celebrated Secret Agent:</i> Barry Parker

Death rays, jet packs, stunts &amp; supercars: the fantastic physics of film's most celebrated secret agent

James would have died a thousand deaths if not for Q, the genius behind the pen grenades and weaponized sports cars that have helped Britain's most famous secret agent cheat death in twenty films. Here Barry Parker demonstrates how science and technology have been as important to 007 as good looks, shaken martinis, and beautiful women. Using entertaining sketches and nontechnical language, Parker explains the basic physics behind the gadgets, cars, and stunts in a number of films, from the jet packs in Thunderball to the dynamics of daredevil bungee jumping in GoldenEye. If you've ever wondered whether the laser could have actually cut in half ( Goldfinger), if a wristwatch could really unzip a woman's dress ( Live and Let Die), or whether your car could do the 360-degree barrel roll from The Man with the Golden Gun, this book is for you. Top 5 Stunts of All Time Q and His Amazing Devices The Cars in All Their Glory Moonraker and in Space The Walther PPK and the Ballistics of Bond The Neptune and Battles Aquatic

Invasion

Invasion

Non-ionizing radiation: Fact and fiction

Public awareness of the “potential health hazards” of RF and microwave radiation dates from the disclosure, in 1972, of Russian irradiation of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. Previously, so-called “death rays” had been relegated to the pages of science fiction. This concern was heightened a few years later by a series of expose-type articles by Paul Brodeur, which appeared in the New Yorker magazine. While it is certainly not a scientific journal, the New Yorker reaches a highly intelligent and decisive element of the general population. These articles were soon followed by the publication (in 1977) of Brodeur's sensational book, “The Zapping of America,” wherein he contended that the entire U.S. population was immersed in a toxic sea of unhealthy radiation. Most recently, in June 1980, a New York State Compensation Board, ruling that a New York Telephone Company technician had died of a disease labeled as “Microwave Sickness,” caused a rash of articles in the public press with such headlines as: “Panel Says Mcirowaves Were Fatal “(Newsday, March 3, 1981) and “Microwaves: Are They a Peril?” (The New York Times, April 21, 1981).

THE NEUTRON WARHEAD: STORMY PAST, UNCERTAIN FUTURE

Abstract : Will introduction of neutron warheads into our nuclear inventory in NATO increase the chances of escalating a conventional war into a nuclear war? Will they increase NATO's deterrence against a Warsaw Pact attack? Are the warheads militarily effective? How will their deployment affect our NATO allies? How are the Soviets apt to react to this new development? Such questions are admittedly more prosaic than discussions of death rays and killer warheads, but they should be addressed before we go ahead with production, and particularly before the weapons are deployed in Europe. The future of the neutron weapon is, at the time of this writing, by no means secure. Since it represents an innovative technical development in tactical nuclear weapons, it poses some real and immediate issues dealing with our concept of limited nuclear war and our deterrence in Europe; it deserves a sober, careful consideration, not only as a weapon of war, but also as an instrument of foreign policy. One suspects that the production of neutron warheads has a momentum of its own that cannot be slowed. From a military point of view, they will provide, at least in the midterm, an improvement in the effectiveness of our nuclear delivery systems. Although they are somewhat more credible than the fission weapons in our current inventory, their presence, alone, will not substantially deter a Warsaw Pact attack. Should deterrence fail, they might represent an increase in NATO's ability to deny the enemy his military objectives, temporarily at least, with comparatively low levels of collateral damage. However, with the risks involved, before we deploy the neutron warhead to NATO we should review our entire policy concerning U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in Europe. As a minimum, we should carefully reexamine our conventional and nuclear force posture in Europe and, with the full participation of our NATO allies, decide exactly what we propose to do with these weapons.

Science Fiction: Bridge between the Two Cultures

new short story. Because of this unique relationship, dominant for first time in our prose tradition, science fiction can be viewed as most accurately reflective literary genre of our time. But science fiction has only recently entered realm of respectability. Isaac Asimov divides history of science fiction in United States into four areas: (1) 1815-1926, (2) 1926-1938, (3) 1938-1945, and (4) 1945-to present.' The first era he terms primitive because the concept of science fiction had been born... [but] ... basis for support of science fiction writers did not yet exist. . Science fiction was found only in pulp magazines; it was considered a trashy and escapist form of literature which dealt with improbable things, such as space travel, death rays, and atomic energy. In 1926, science fiction reached second stage as a result of establishment of a regular outlet for it through Hugo Gernsback's magazine, Amazing Stories. This was first magazine devoted exclusively to science fiction. Gernsback defined genre as one in which scientific plausibility was major factor. He was not concerned with literary techniques but only with scientific logic and consistency. Few of writings of this period stand up today for readers other than science fiction historians.