Pulsed Energy Weapon
A pulsed energy weapon is any weapon that: * uses pulses of electricity to fire a projectile, or * operates by transferring electric current to its target. These weapons often use large capacitors to build up a charge which is released when the weapon is fired. Large high-end systems sometimes use compulsators which store energy using rotational inertia. Weapons which do not use projectiles, such as the stun gun and laser gun, do not need any ammunition other than a power source. Common pulsed energy weapons * Taser - A combination of a conventional weapon & electrical weapon * Stun gun Experimental pulsed energy weapons * Railgun * Coilgun * Certain lasers Fictional pulsed energy weapons * Some rayguns and plasma rifles * Weapons mounted on space ships in the Star Trek universe * Most weapons used by advanced species in the Stargate universe * The most common weapon type in the ''Farscape'' television series References See also Directed energy weapon A di ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Capacitor
A capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy in an electric field by virtue of accumulating electric charges on two close surfaces insulated from each other. It is a passive electronic component with two terminals. The effect of a capacitor is known as capacitance. While some capacitance exists between any two electrical conductors in proximity in a circuit, a capacitor is a component designed to add capacitance to a circuit. The capacitor was originally known as the condenser, a term still encountered in a few compound names, such as the '' condenser microphone''. The physical form and construction of practical capacitors vary widely and many types of capacitor are in common use. Most capacitors contain at least two electrical conductors often in the form of metallic plates or surfaces separated by a dielectric medium. A conductor may be a foil, thin film, sintered bead of metal, or an electrolyte. The nonconducting dielectric acts to increase the capacitor's ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Compulsator
A compensated pulsed alternator, also known by the portmanteau ''compulsator'', is a form of power supply. As the name suggests, it is an alternator that is "compensated" (see below) to make it better at delivering pulses of electrical energy than a normal alternator. Description and operation The principle is very similar to an alternator, except the rotor is usually kept spinning by its inertia (having been "spun up" by an external motor, or the compulsator itself having been used in reverse as an AC motor) and the small matter of the "compensation". The compulsator is used like a capacitor, to gather energy from a low-power source and store it, then generate a high-power output for a short period. The windings of a compulsator are different from those of a normal alternator in being designed for minimal inductance. This allows the current in the windings to change very rapidly, which is why this "compensation" makes it better at delivering pulses. The kinetic energy of a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Taser
A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon (company), Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to puncture the skin and remain attached to the target, at . Their range extends from for non-Law Enforcement Tasers to for LE Tasers. The darts are connected to the main unit by thin insulated copper wire and deliver a modulated electric current designed to disrupt voluntary control of muscles, causing "neuromuscular incapacitation." The effects of a taser may only be localized pain or strong involuntary long muscle contractions, based on the mode of use and connectivity of the darts. Tasers are marketed as less-lethal, since the Taser safety issues, possibility of serious injury or death exists whenever the weapon is deployed. At least 49 people died in the US in 2018 after being shocked by police with a Taser. The first ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Electroshock Weapon
An electroshock weapon is a less-lethal weapon that utilizes an electric shock to incapacitate a target by either temporarily disrupting voluntary muscle control and/or through pain compliance. There are several different types of electroshock weapons. An electroshock is not a taser, though the two terms are often used interchangeably, stun guns and Tasers refer to two different devices. Stun guns administer an electric shock through direct contact, whereas a taser device administers the shock through thin flexible wires connected to two probes that are fired into the target. History In 1935 Ciril Diaz of Cuba designed an electroshock glove for use by the police. The glove delivered 1,500 volts of electricity (only 0.03% of the modern tasers voltage) Jack Cover, a NASA researcher, began developing the Taser in 1969. By 1974, he had completed the device, which he named after his childhood hero Tom Swift ( "Thomas A. Swift's electric rifle"). The Taser Public Defender pr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Railgun
A railgun or rail gun is a linear motor device, typically designed as a weapon, that uses electromagnetic force to launch high velocity projectiles. The projectile normally does not contain explosives, instead relying on the projectile's high speed, mass, and kinetic energy to inflict damage. The railgun uses a pair of parallel conductors (rails), along which a sliding armature is accelerated by the electromagnetic effects of a current that flows down one rail, into the armature and then back along the other rail. It is based on principles similar to those of the homopolar motor. As of 2020, railguns have been researched as weapons utilizing electromagnetic forces to impart a very high kinetic energy to a projectile (e.g. APFSDS) rather than using conventional propellants. While explosive-powered military guns cannot readily achieve a muzzle velocity of more than ≈, railguns can readily exceed . For a similar projectile, the range of railguns may exceed that of conventional g ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Coilgun
A coilgun, also known as a Gauss rifle, is a type of mass driver consisting of one or more coils used as electromagnets in the configuration of a linear motor that accelerate a ferromagnetic or conducting projectile to high velocity. In almost all coilgun configurations, the coils and the gun barrel are arranged on a common axis. A coilgun is not a rifle as the barrel is smoothbore (not rifled). The name "Gauss" is in reference to Carl Friedrich Gauss, who formulated mathematical descriptions of the magnetic effect used by magnetic accelerator cannons. Coilguns generally consist of one or more coils arranged along a barrel, so the path of the accelerating projectile lies along the central axis of the coils. The coils are switched on and off in a precisely timed sequence, causing the projectile to be accelerated quickly along the barrel via magnetic forces. Coilguns are distinct from railguns, as the direction of acceleration in a railgun is at right angles to the central ax ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The first laser was built in 1960 by Theodore H. Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories, based on theoretical work by Charles Hard Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow. A laser differs from other sources of light in that it emits light which is coherence (physics), ''coherent''. Spatial coherence allows a laser to be focused to a tight spot, enabling applications such as laser cutting and Photolithography#Light sources, lithography. Spatial coherence also allows a laser beam to stay narrow over great distances (collimated light, collimation), enabling applications such as laser pointers and lidar (light detection and ranging). Lasers can also have high temporal coherence, which allows them to emit light with a very narrow frequency spectrum, spectru ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Raygun
A raygun is a science-fiction directed-energy weapon that releases energy, usually with destructive effect.Jeff Prucher, '' Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction,'' Oxford University Press, 2007, page 162 They have various alternate names: ray gun, death ray, beam gun, blaster, laser gun, laser pistol, phaser, zap gun, etc. In most stories, when activated, a raygun emits a ray, typically visible, usually lethal if it hits a human target, often destructive if it hits mechanical objects, with properties and other effects unspecified or varying. Real-world analogues are directed-energy weapons or electrolasers: electroshock weapons which send current along an electrically conductive laser-induced plasma channel. History A very early example of a raygun is the Heat-Ray featured in H. G. Wells' novel ''The War of the Worlds'' (1898).Van Riper, op. cit., p. 46. Science fiction during the 1920s described death rays. Early science fiction often described or dep ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Plasma Rifle
A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy without a solid projectile, including lasers, microwaves, particle beams, and sound beams. Potential applications of this technology include weapons that target personnel, missiles, vehicles, and optical devices."Daily Telegraph, 12th September 2013" ''Golden Eye-style energy beam is developed by Nato scientists'', Oct. 08, 2013"Milsat Magazine, Satnews Daily, June 24th 2009" ''U.S. Navy Laser Versus UAVs... Laser Wins...'', Oct. 08, 2013 In th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Star Trek Universe
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into various films, television series, video games, novels, and comic books. With an estimated $10.6 billion in revenue, it is one of the most recognizable and highest-grossing media franchises of all time. The franchise began with '' Star Trek: The Original Series'', which debuted in the US on September 8, 1966 and aired for three seasons on NBC. It was first broadcast on September 6, 1966 on Canada's CTV network. It followed the voyages of the crew of the starship USS ''Enterprise'', a space exploration vessel built by the United Federation of Planets in the 23rd century, on a mission "to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before". In creating ''Star Trek'', Roddenberry was i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Stargate
''Stargate'' (often stylized in all caps) is a military science fiction media franchise based on the film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin. The franchise is based on the idea of an alien Einstein–Rosen bridge device (the Stargate) that enables nearly instantaneous travel across the cosmos. The franchise began with the film ''Stargate'', released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, which grossed US$197million worldwide. In 1997, Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner created a television series titled ''Stargate SG-1'' as a sequel to the film. This show was joined by ''Stargate Atlantis'' in 2004, ''Stargate Universe'' in 2009, and a prequel web series, ''Stargate Origins'', in 2018. Also consistent with the same story are a variety of books, video games and comic books, as well as the direct-to-DVD movies '' Stargate: Children of the Gods'', '' Stargate: The Ark of Truth'', and '' Stargate: Continuum'', which concluded the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Farscape
''Farscape'' is an Australian-American science fiction television series, produced originally for the Nine Network. It premiered in the US on Sci-Fi Channel's SciFi Friday, 19 March 1999, at 8:00 pm EST as their anchor series. The series was conceived by Rockne S. O'Bannon and produced by The Jim Henson Company and Hallmark Entertainment. The Jim Henson Company was responsible for the various alien make-up and prosthetics, and two regular characters (the animatronic puppets Rygel and Pilot) are entirely Creature Shop creations. Although the series was planned for five seasons, it was abruptly cancelled after production had ended on its fourth season, ending the series on a cliffhanger. Co-producer Brian Henson later secured the rights to ''Farscape'', paving the way for a three-hour miniseries to wrap up the cliffhanger, titled '' Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars'', which Henson directed. In 2007, it was announced that the creator was returning for a web-series but product ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |