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Technology

Long-range Taser raises fears of shock and injury

By David Hambling

28 October 2009

Âé¶¹´«Ã½. 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 under a $2.5 million contract,…

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