The sounds of MEDUSA do not come from the vehement, shrill cries of a woman whose head is covered in snakes, but are created by Mob Excess Deterrent Using Silent Audio (MEDUSA), a device that uses microwaves to beam sounds into your brain. And only you can hear them.
The U.S. military has been dabbling with the idea of a “microwave ray gun” for the past decade, but there has never been any attempt at laboratory development until recently.
The gun works by shooting short pulses of microwaves into your head, which quickly heat up brain tissue (much like how they heat up your leftovers). This causes a shock wave, which reverberates throughout the skull and is picked up by the ears. The sound produced is completely “inside your head”, no one can hear it except for you, unless the pulses are aimed at multiple targets.
MEDUSA is touted as a non-lethal method of control by inescapable discomfort and irritation. For example, the device could be used to beam sounds at a rowdy crowd of people (er, or peaceful protesters, take your pick). Although research with more powerful microwaves is needed, scientists working on the device say MEDUSA might have serious harmful effects. The force from the shock wave could cause brain damage, or even death, making it an effective (and far less messy) military weapon.
Far-fetched commerical uses for MEDUSA have also been proposed, such as beaming subliminal advertising messages into people’s brains, say, while shopping. Creepy.