5 ms·

This goes to show that even seemingly ridiculous (from the layman's POV) technology can be eventually used to create tecnology that can directly better our live

This goes to show that even seemingly ridiculous (from the layman's POV) technology can be eventually used to create tecnology that can directly better our lives. This was originally designed to detect alien life on other planets, but was converted to look for heartbeats and breathing under rubble.

ffthrowaway020 11y ago
This device can also be used to further the American Police State. I am a Targeted Individual and a victim of Gang Stalking [1]. And, I suspect that this technology was used by an upstairs neighbor to track me around the apartment and electronically harass me using a microwave device. He would use a pulsed RF/microwave device (a Directed Energy Weapon [2]) to irradiate me as I moved around my apartment and also while I slept. Whenever I disabled WiFi, cell phones, etc. and moved slowly, he would stomp heavily/loudly on the floor, relocate me within seconds and the irradiation would resume. I bought an EMF meter to attempt to detect evidence of the harassment but could detect nothing. I have read that these DEWs can range up to 95 GHz, way beyond the capabilities of my device. As a result of his efforts, I now have electromagnetic hypersensitivity and my data-only iPhone delivers small stings to my fingertips. Initially, I thought that the neighbor was using the loud stomping to generate a sonar/like wave that he could use to locate me within the apartment. Some researchers at the University of Washington described detecting gestures within a home using WiFi signals [3] and I thought sound waves might be used to achieve a similar effect. For the uninitiated, this blurb describes the Stasi tactic called Gang Stalking (otherwise known as Organized Stalking): "Organized stalking methods were used extensively by communist East Germany’s Stasi (state police) as a means of maintaining political control over its citizens. The Stasi referred to the tactics as “Zersetzung” (German for “decomposition” or “corrosion” – a reference to the intended psychological, social, and financial effects upon the victim). Although they are illegal in the U.S., the same covert tactics are quietly used by America’s local and federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies to suppress dissent, silence whistle-blowers, and get revenge against persons who have angered someone with connections to the public and private agencies involved. Illegal counterintelligence operations have been perpetrated against Americans by urban police departments in the U.S. since the late 1800s. Traditionally, the groups of mostly-undercover police officers involved are called “red squads,” although the modern official term is “Law Enforcement Intelligence Units (LEIUs).” The most well-documented example of such operations was the FBI’s infamous Cointelpro (Counter-Intelligence Programs) under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover." No, I didn't do anything to "deserve" this treatment. [1] http://fightgangstalking.com/what-is-gang-stalking/ http://fightgangstalking.com/what-is-gang-stalking/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directed-energy_weapon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directed-energy_weapon [3] http://www.washington.edu/news/2013/06/04/wi-fi-signals-enable-gesture-recognition-throughout-entire-home/ http://www.washington.edu/news/2013/06/04/wi-fi-signals-enab...
HenryTheHorse 11y ago
It certainly makes for a hell of an executive summary for a project status report. "The bad news is we still don't know if there's life on Mars. But the good news is we just located 4 men under a flattened Dunkin' Donuts in Kathmandu".
- incompatible 11y ago
  However, the claim that this is "based on technology used to detect alien life on distant exoplanets" sounds dubious. Exoplanets are far too distant to use radar on them at all, let alone pick up alien life signs.
  - Gracana 11y ago
    Maybe the idea was that a probe or robot sent to distant planets could use this device to detect life signs.
  - rflrob 11y ago
    I would think the technology in question is a sensitive detector. In that case, it could work either passively for the exolife search, or in an active SAR situation.
  - aptwebapps 11y ago
    I don't know where they got "exoplanets" from. I Googled a bit and the best [0] I could find indicates some connection to radar tech used on missions like Cassini's. 0. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-290 http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-290
  - new299 11y ago
    First thought was that it's likely a signal processing technique designed to pick out a periodic signal in noisy data which allowed them to pick up out the heatbeats. To me that doesn't seem like much of a leap, but I don't know what they actually did.
aaron695 11y ago
I tend to think those four men, and the many others who died would have preferred the money had been spent on the simple, known process of better earth quake proofing the buildings in the region. I'm not anti science for sciences sake, but this is not a logical argument. Bettering lives in Nepal is cheap and easy with current tech.
- michaelkeenan 11y ago
  I think you might be replying to a different idea than reverend_gonzo was proposing. I think he's just noting that not-obviously-useful technological advances can have unexpected applications. I don't read him as saying that not-obviously-useful technological advances are the best way to save lives in Nepal. If you just want to save lives, donate to whichever charity GiveWell[1] says is the best charity at saving lives per dollar. Every other use of money is vulnerable to the "but you could save more lives a different way" criticism. [1] http://www.givewell.org/ http://www.givewell.org/
  - aaron695 11y ago
    I thought it was that dangerous fine line. Four lives is a drop in bucket in Nepal. I'm all pro for technology. But I just don't want people thinking four lives matter in the scheme of things.The world in not that sort of sugar candy and gumdrops sort of place. Saving lives is cheap and easy as you point out, I'm just saying be aware this is a PR stunt. And hey it'll work. And NASA will get more funding which is great. I just like to be aware of what's real and what's not.
- Shivetya 11y ago
  With their GDP, only if someone else does it. Plus Nepal is filled with some very old temples and the like which are not going to be easy fixes; if they survived this long its a testament to chance or their builders. Bring up their GDP through economic development which will eventually provide the money needed for better construction but that will need to wait until their political situation settles down.
  - 11y ago

ffthrowaway020 11y ago

This device can also be used to further the American Police State. I am a Targeted Individual and a victim of Gang Stalking [1]. And, I suspect that this technology was used by an upstairs neighbor to track me around the apartment and electronically harass me using a microwave device. He would use a pulsed RF/microwave device (a Directed Energy Weapon [2]) to irradiate me as I moved around my apartment and also while I slept. Whenever I disabled WiFi, cell phones, etc. and moved slowly, he would stomp heavily/loudly on the floor, relocate me within seconds and the irradiation would resume. I bought an EMF meter to attempt to detect evidence of the harassment but could detect nothing. I have read that these DEWs can range up to 95 GHz, way beyond the capabilities of my device. As a result of his efforts, I now have electromagnetic hypersensitivity and my data-only iPhone delivers small stings to my fingertips. Initially, I thought that the neighbor was using the loud stomping to generate a sonar/like wave that he could use to locate me within the apartment. Some researchers at the University of Washington described detecting gestures within a home using WiFi signals [3] and I thought sound waves might be used to achieve a similar effect. For the uninitiated, this blurb describes the Stasi tactic called Gang Stalking (otherwise known as Organized Stalking): "Organized stalking methods were used extensively by communist East Germany’s Stasi (state police) as a means of maintaining political control over its citizens. The Stasi referred to the tactics as “Zersetzung” (German for “decomposition” or “corrosion” – a reference to the intended psychological, social, and financial effects upon the victim). Although they are illegal in the U.S., the same covert tactics are quietly used by America’s local and federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies to suppress dissent, silence whistle-blowers, and get revenge against persons who have angered someone with connections to the public and private agencies involved. Illegal counterintelligence operations have been perpetrated against Americans by urban police departments in the U.S. since the late 1800s. Traditionally, the groups of mostly-undercover police officers involved are called “red squads,” although the modern official term is “Law Enforcement Intelligence Units (LEIUs).” The most well-documented example of such operations was the FBI’s infamous Cointelpro (Counter-Intelligence Programs) under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover." No, I didn't do anything to "deserve" this treatment. [1] http://fightgangstalking.com/what-is-gang-stalking/ http://fightgangstalking.com/what-is-gang-stalking/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directed-energy_weapon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directed-energy_weapon [3] http://www.washington.edu/news/2013/06/04/wi-fi-signals-enable-gesture-recognition-throughout-entire-home/ http://www.washington.edu/news/2013/06/04/wi-fi-signals-enab...

HenryTheHorse 11y ago

It certainly makes for a hell of an executive summary for a project status report. "The bad news is we still don't know if there's life on Mars. But the good news is we just located 4 men under a flattened Dunkin' Donuts in Kathmandu".

incompatible 11y ago
However, the claim that this is "based on technology used to detect alien life on distant exoplanets" sounds dubious. Exoplanets are far too distant to use radar on them at all, let alone pick up alien life signs.
- Gracana 11y ago
  Maybe the idea was that a probe or robot sent to distant planets could use this device to detect life signs.
- rflrob 11y ago
  I would think the technology in question is a sensitive detector. In that case, it could work either passively for the exolife search, or in an active SAR situation.
- aptwebapps 11y ago
  I don't know where they got "exoplanets" from. I Googled a bit and the best [0] I could find indicates some connection to radar tech used on missions like Cassini's. 0. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-290 http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-290
- new299 11y ago
  First thought was that it's likely a signal processing technique designed to pick out a periodic signal in noisy data which allowed them to pick up out the heatbeats. To me that doesn't seem like much of a leap, but I don't know what they actually did.

aaron695 11y ago

I tend to think those four men, and the many others who died would have preferred the money had been spent on the simple, known process of better earth quake proofing the buildings in the region. I'm not anti science for sciences sake, but this is not a logical argument. Bettering lives in Nepal is cheap and easy with current tech.

michaelkeenan 11y ago
I think you might be replying to a different idea than reverend_gonzo was proposing. I think he's just noting that not-obviously-useful technological advances can have unexpected applications. I don't read him as saying that not-obviously-useful technological advances are the best way to save lives in Nepal. If you just want to save lives, donate to whichever charity GiveWell[1] says is the best charity at saving lives per dollar. Every other use of money is vulnerable to the "but you could save more lives a different way" criticism. [1] http://www.givewell.org/ http://www.givewell.org/
- aaron695 11y ago
  I thought it was that dangerous fine line. Four lives is a drop in bucket in Nepal. I'm all pro for technology. But I just don't want people thinking four lives matter in the scheme of things.The world in not that sort of sugar candy and gumdrops sort of place. Saving lives is cheap and easy as you point out, I'm just saying be aware this is a PR stunt. And hey it'll work. And NASA will get more funding which is great. I just like to be aware of what's real and what's not.
Shivetya 11y ago
With their GDP, only if someone else does it. Plus Nepal is filled with some very old temples and the like which are not going to be easy fixes; if they survived this long its a testament to chance or their builders. Bring up their GDP through economic development which will eventually provide the money needed for better construction but that will need to wait until their political situation settles down.
- 11y ago