It's no real secret that war and conflict is perhaps one of the biggest driving influences on the development of new technology.  Modern computers and the Internet were inventions brought about to deal with war situations.  It seems the latest advance in wartime technology is a non-lethal weapon that basically cooks the target like a TV dinner in a microwave oven.

Declared ready for deployment in Iraq, the Air Force has developed a weapon it's calling the Active Denial System.  The ADS shoots a beam of millimeter waves, waves that are in between x-rays and microwaves found in a standard microwave oven.  The effect is a very rapid warming of the skin, causing rapidly mounting pain for the target.  Studies conducted by the Air Force show that most subjects could withstand 3 seconds on average, and none lasted more than 5 before fleeing the beam.

The ADS is meant to be a crowd-control device, to clear riots and secure zones of combat.  Current prototypes are mounted on Hummers and have a 2-meter diameter with a range of 500 yards, making it the furthest-reaching and one of the overall safest non-lethal weapons in use.

Just a few years ago, "microwave guns" were exclusively the domain of science fiction, now they're a reality and coming to a warzone near you!