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Microwave Weapons Are Suspect in Ills of U.S. Embassy Workers

nytimes.com

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Re: Microwave Weapons Are Suspect in Ills of U.S. Embassy Workers

#21

Post by prolikewh0a »

neuroma wrote: post #7

Okay I'm skeptical. On the one side some 'bad other' could be using an undefined device to attack only American people, only in foreign lands, and for uncertain reasons. That narrative conveniently fuels paranoia and makes for good reading. Alternative explanations exist, based on well established medicine, which I think need air time, link below. Now, I'm all for exciting stories but this one keeps being resurrected…

Especially knowing the USA has been a thorn in Cuba's side since the 50's, repeatedly trying to kill Castro and undermine their economic system.

Americans live under constant propaganda from their own government, deployed by their own mainstream newspapers and TV media. Chomsky's 'Manufacturing Consent' is an eye opening look into the continuous war/regime change drum that's beating inside the USA.

This is just more the same, NY Times writing anti-Cuban articles as propaganda, with no evidence to back up their nonsense claims.

Re: Microwave Weapons Are Suspect in Ills of U.S. Embassy Workers

#22

Post by prolikewh0a »

madeuptempacct wrote: post #2

I just want to point out that this is an exceptionally well-researched and cited article, didn't expect that (which is funny - I just realized I set a lower standard for mainstream media than the tech blog posts I read that people write in their free time).

Where is the evidence that it's actually happening?

Re: Microwave Weapons Are Suspect in Ills of U.S. Embassy Workers

#23

Post by themodelplumber »

baybal2 wrote: post #5

There is a point to bring: during the WWII and later cold war, Soviets were extremely vocal about untouchability of top political leadership, and immunities provided by Vienna convention being absolute. And they uphold that dearly. Now my Western friends, try spending some time to think why they did so.

Are you referring to their desire for immunity in ordering crimes against humanity?

Re: Microwave Weapons Are Suspect in Ills of U.S. Embassy Workers

#24

Post by [deleted] »

prolikewh0a wrote: post #21
neuroma wrote: post #7

Okay I'm skeptical. On the one side some 'bad other' could be using an undefined device to attack only American people, only in foreign lands, and for uncertain reasons. That narrative conveniently fuels paranoia and makes for good reading. Alternative explanations exist, based on well established medicine, which I think need air time, link below. Now, I'm all for exciting stories but this one keeps being resurrected…

Especially knowing the USA has been a thorn in Cuba's side since the 50's, repeatedly trying to kill Castro and undermine their economic system. Americans live under constant propaganda from their own government, deployed by their own mainstream newspapers and TV media. Chomsky's 'Manufacturing Consent' is an eye opening look into the continuous war/regime change drum that's beating inside the USA. This is just more…

[deleted]

Re: Microwave Weapons Are Suspect in Ills of U.S. Embassy Workers

#25

Post by madengr »

themodelplumber wrote: post #20
madengr wrote: post #10

RF/Microwave EE here. I actually tried this on myself several years ago with no effect. Specifically 20W at C-band into a 10 dBi standard gain horn a few feet away, pulse mod to 1 kHz. That was still not near enough power density. While it’s plausible, it would take a big effort to affect this many people. The peak power densities, as described in the paper, would be tens of W/cm^2; e.g. radar transmitters and big an…

Great comment. I was also wondering about detection--it ought to be trivial. I'm surprised that government buildings in places like this don't already have simple sensor arrays up and running, especially knowing of the potential for RF use in espionage (information transfer) etc.

Yes, it would be trivial. These kinds of power levels are probably enough to light an LED with it’s leads bent into a dipole.

Pocket spectrum analyzers can be had for cheap these days.

Re: Microwave Weapons Are Suspect in Ills of U.S. Embassy Workers

#26

Post by krapp »

prmph wrote: post #14

Why is this effect not used to develop a device that converts normal sounds into such microwaves that the deaf can hear?

I would imagine the negative health effects caused by long-term exposure of the brain to microwaves strong enough to produce the desired effect might be a factor.

Re: Microwave Weapons Are Suspect in Ills of U.S. Embassy Workers

#29

Post by Xylakant »

mrtksn wrote: post #18
russfink wrote: post #11

Is there a defense against this kind of thing? Not to sound cliche, but would a tin foil hat work?

I’m not sure that tin foil hat can protect you from lousy journalism based on speculations without any evidence or even clues. They say that some experts in somewhat related field now agree that the previous speculations based on non-evidence might be somewhat plausible. You’re going to need some military grade tin foil hat for that.

> I’m not sure that tin foil hat can protect you from lousy journalism based on speculations without any evidence or even clues.

I’m certain it can, at least if it’s large enough to cover eyes and ears and thick enough to muffle sounds.

Re: Microwave Weapons Are Suspect in Ills of U.S. Embassy Workers

#30

Post by kurthr »

bcaa7f3a8bbc wrote: post #13
russfink wrote: post #11

Is there a defense against this kind of thing? Not to sound cliche, but would a tin foil hat work?

A simple experiment result published by the MIT Media Lab, found tinfoil hats are not really effective. https://web.archive.org/web/20100708230258/http://people.csa... > For all helmets, we noticed a 30 db __amplification__ at 2.6 Ghz and a 20 db amplification at 1.2 Ghz, regardless of the position of the antenna on the cranium. In addition, all helmets exhibited a marked 20 db attenuation at around 1.5 Ghz, with no…

You don't even need SDR... a really simple LED and a few variable antennas would do a good job into the GHz.
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