Microwave Beam Used To Stop Cars Dead

Eureka Aerospace in Pasadena, California has developed a new way to stop vehicles with drivers that think high speed car cashes are fun. By using the same technology found in microwaves they have created a device that will fry a car's electrical system and stop it dead in its tracks.

This prototype is 5ft long, 3ft wide, 1ft thick and just less than 200 pounds. It operates at a 300 megahertz frequency; your household microwave operates at about 2.5 GHz. The radiation level is not harmful to humans except that it'll cost you a bundle if you ever have to have this device worked upon your vehicle.

Just one pulse from this beam, lasting only 50 nanoseconds, will do the trick. In four different tests they were able to disable the cars from 10-50ft away. With proper funding Eureka Aerospace thinks they can shrink the device to 50lbs and can work from 600ft away in about two years.

It's like something out a Philip K. Dick book. I think it's a great idea and would love to see it in action myself.

Microwave Beam Stops Cars Dead [via Discovery News]