was credited to nazi saidist himmler. hhhmmmmm. is someone forgetting the past?
Deadly Compressed Air Knife (Updated)
By Sharon Weinberger
If you were creeped out by the compressed air gun used by the villain in No
Country for Old Men, you might want to skip this post. There's a new patent
out for a deadly compressed gas knife, which like its name suggests, injects
compressed air into the victim (making it a more deadly weapon than a regular knife).
The kife would be "particularly useful for a diver and that when an undersea
creature is pierced, the compressed gas both causes tissue and organ damage
and provides buoyancy to float the creature towards the surface."
Here's more from the patent:
The handle has an internal cavity containing a compressed gas source and the
blade is affixed to the handle. The blade has an internal bore running along a
longitudinal axis from the handle to a point proximate a tip. The blade further
has an aperture extending from a first edge to the internal bore at an angle
relative to the longitudinal axis of between 15.degree. and 75.degree.. The
trigger has a depressed position and a not depressed position. When in the
depressed position, the internal bore communicates with the compressed gas
source and when in said not depressed position, the internal bore is blocked
from the compressed gas source. When a creature is pierced with the knife,
the trigger is depressed
injecting compressed gas into the creature greatly enhancing the
incapacitating effect of the knife.
The knife is designed for scuba divers, not murderous lunatics, says the
patent. Then again, the compressed air gun in No Country for Old Men was
meant for cattle.
Update:
DANGER ROOM's very own David Hambling reminds me that the compressed air knife
has a precursor, the Farallon Shark Dart, a U.S. Navy weapon from the 1970s:
The most common version resembles a slim dagger, with a CO2 cartridge in the
handle and a long hollow needle for a blade. The idea was to stab the shark,
causing the CO2 to be released into its body. The idea was that this would not
kill it but would affect its buoyancy, forcing it to break off the attack
without leaving much blood in the water. The reality may have been more gruesome.
"I saw some footage on it, it was horrible," says a diver describing the
effects here. "Their bellies would inflate and they said it would force the
shark’s stomach out of their mouths."
That makes you wonder kind of close-up mess the air knife would make.