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Password-Protected Bullets Wait In Their Chambers
Herbert Meyerle of Germany filed a patent application for a password-protected bullet earlier this month.
The intent is to create a safer kind of firearm; if the ammunition is password-protected, the firearms themselves are useless.
The idea is that the cartridges would be fired by a burst of electromagnetic waves. The energy would ignite the charge in an individual bullet only if the password for that bullet matched the one entered into the firearm. Cartridges could be programmed at the point of sale. The cartridge could be programmed to demand the password prior to firing or during reloading.
If you think the password-protected bullet is nifty, you'll love the smart bullet, a self-guided microshell from the 1984 movie Runaway, written and directed by writer Michael Crichton.
(Smart bullet dissected - more pics)
The smart bullet was not password-protected, but it could uniquely identify its target (if not its operator).
Read a bit more here; see the password-protected bullet patent application.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/27/2006)
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