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quote:

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The EM pulse rifle is one of many related designs based on the idea of
accelerating a projectile to high-velocities using electromagnetic energy
Unlike a railgun, which requires high input-energy and is based on a
Lorentz-force rail-accelerator, the Pulse Rifle utilizes an inductive
acceleration on a non-magnetic projectile.

In short, the device discharges a capacitor-bank through a magnetic coil
situated directly behind a 1-inch diameter aluminum ring. The brief but
powerful magnetic pulse generates an inductive-current in the ring, which
then accelerates down the barrel at high speed. Information Unlimited is also
testing a more powerful version of this design that fires a conventional
projectile, but the ring has been used in this case because it has more
surface area (and hence is less dangerous) than a smaller projectile is.

The pulse-rifle prototype is powered by 4 AA batteries, and requires about 1
minute to charge between each shot. It fires at about the same velocity as a
BB-gun, and has a much greater efficiency than similar designs tested by the
military. This particular protoype is not considered a weapon due to the low
muzzle velocity and 1-minute charge-time.

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So now we've got a working BB-gun prototype of a PULSE RIFLE. And IBM (or was it Toshiba?) has a laptop design powered by a fuel cell this year.

At this rate, will we have a caseless, recoil-free 2KM/S muzzle velocity flechette gun in 10-15 years???
WITH A FIRING-STUD INSTEAD OF A TRIGGER (all you "Honor Harrington"-fans), like on the above example???

And the only sound it's likely to produce is the sound barrier being breached, and if you're on the receiving end you won't even hear that before you're dead, ripped apart diagonally from hip to elbow, like a cow between two giant cow-magnets, while some petty little officer called Harkness is stepping over your slumped corpse, moving this way and that towards the prison block, here and there slipping on your guts and lunch and perhaps also liver, happy like a treedog with a celery-bone in his mouth, or a Masadan after a particularily successful *massrape on female prisoners (Never Forget!).

*[sick]

Anyway, I'm worried...

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"I'm nigh-invulnerable when I'm blasting!"
Mel Gibson, X-Men