Thursday, January 29, 2009

The Future Is Now

I always thought that the whole "high-tech energy-beam weapon requires enormous diamond of mystical properties" trope was just a ridiculous plot device of terrible movies. Apparently not. I know "directed energy weapons" (in other words, rayguns) have been just over the horizon of practicality since the 50's, but it seems like we're actually getting them now. The Active Denial System (the "Pain-Ray") is ready for deployment. Honest-to-goodness laser guns are being demonstrated to shoot down enemy drones and have been suggested as a convenient way to detonate roadside bombs from a safe distance. Soldiers don't think twice about deploying alongside robots.

We're totally living in the future, and it's pretty awesome.

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