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Technology

Long-range Taser raises fears of shock and injury

By David Hambling

28 October 2009

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

A new, long-range Taser weapon could be launched from standard 40-millimetre grenade launchers

(Image: SGT April L. Johnson/US DoD)

INCREASING the distance between yourself and a potentially dangerous assailant is always a good idea – even if your ultimate aim is to render them insensible. That appears to be the thinking behind a Pentagon project, now in its final stages, to perfect a projectile capable of delivering an electric shock to incapacitate a person tens of metres away. It will be fired from a standard 40-millimetre grenade launcher.

The projectile, being developed by Taser International under a $2.5 million contract,…

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