http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=13640

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Those who thought that Luke Skywalker's lightsaber was a thing of the distant future, think again: St. Petersburg scientists have created a gadget that a Jedi knight would not be ashamed to wield. Stream, or Potok in Russian, is a new portable laser weapon developed by the St. Petersburg Institute of Special Materials. Unlike all other laser weapons already known to the world, Stream can temporarily stun a human being without causing irreversible blindness or death. "I guess you could call it a true technological breakthrough," said Arkady Khalyavitsky, one of the three inventors of Stream. "The most important thing is that the laser is non-lethal. To our knowledge, this is the first thing of this kind to be made in Russia or the world." Weighing just 300 grams and around 15 centimeters long, Stream looks more like a pocket flashlight than a crowd-control weapon. In fact, it looks so ordinary that, at first glance, one would think it was just one of those laser pointers you can easily find down at Sennaya Ploshchad. The laser is not, however, intended for mass consumption. Its market is rather the police and the security forces, for potential uses in riot situations or anti-terrorist operations. In theory, it should take less than a second to stun one's target, and is effective at distances of several hundred meters. The laser is weaker in broad daylight, but its potency increases greatly in cloudy conditions and is at its maximum at night.

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With previous laser weapons, it was found that there was no middle ground between causing blindness or death with a laser at full power, and having almost no effect when the laser was weak. By experimenting with the beam's intensity, and length of exposure to it, the Russians have apparently hit upon the solution. "[Stream] is still experimental," said Andrei Yevdokimov, deputy general director of Special Materials Ltd. "But it already exists, you can see it, touch it." Khalyavitsky demonstrated by lighting a papirosa cigarette and blowing smoke across the laser's path to make it visible. "Don't let this shine in your eyes," he said. "You won't be driving for the rest of the day."

summary:
- a "laser pointer" that zaps people in the eyes from distances of hundreds of yards.
- can be used to create a single dot or wide field so you can use it on moving targets/crowds*
*(as long as they are all facing the same way I guess)
- takes less than a second to stun your target
- the stun effect is temporary blindness, lasts for a matter of hours.


so it looks like a lightsaber, works like "Force Blind" from darkforces2

The stun gun and mace just became obsolete.

Still, it's no surprise to me that russia would develop this first.  After Regan fooled them with the whole "Star Wars" project, they probably spent several trillion rubles on laser research.

Now, I'm waiting for this to be used in the military field.  Just think, a bunch of enemies are firing at you so you take your huge spotlight device and flash it a few times in their general direction.  They all go blind and you get yourself an easy win.

i find this rather scary
i can see kids running arround with these things and "stunning" the crowds at the local mal...

I find it scary that they used riot control and anti-terrorism in the same context

I find it odd that they're comparing it to a lightsaber. It's nothing like it, beyond a slight phisical resemblance. It would make more sense to compare it to a phaser, much closer in terms of effect.

It sounds ify and weak, but passable. But it needs more development and work before it can be given a real test like in a war zone. But don't get me wrong, its a good start. Lets keep that progress going. How about a personal force sheild.....hmm. To deflect bullets and other small weapons.

Quote (George W Carver @ June 08 2006, 7:29 pm)

It sounds ify and weak, but passable. But it needs more development and work before it can be given a real test like in a war zone. But don't get me wrong, its a good start. Lets keep that progress going. How about a personal force sheild.....hmm. To deflect bullets and other small weapons.

I had a theory about that, though not nessicarily to deflect the bullets...

Myth Busters is a wonderfull show.  On one they tested the myth of "if you go in water while someone is shooting you, you'll be ok."

Well, they tested it with a variaty of shots going through certain amounts of water.  Even at 12 feet a pistol made a mark.  Not enough to kill you, but it would hurt.  A shotgun put a hole in the tank.  So they went to their local pool and fired some high powered rifles at an angle.  Turns out that a super duper sniper rifle gets only 3 feet in before disintegrating.  M16s are about the same.  The conclusion: High powered rifles generate so much heat on the bullet that, upon hitting a cold surface (water), the temperature difference causes the bullet to rip apart.  So I thought, if we equip a soldier with a vest, filled with pockets of sub zero liquid (like liquid nitrogen or oxygen or something) and surouned it in a light layer of kevlar with wire mesh(for support), anything strong enough to pierce the kevlar would hit the cold liquid and break apart, impacting a layer of kevlar on the other side harmlessly.

Sadly it has 2 problems.  First the whole system would need to be pressurized or kept cool somehow without adding much weight onto the soldier.  Secondly, any liquid that flowed out would have to be stopped or at the very least harmless to humans, otherwise you'd have a hazardous spill worse then the bullet.