Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sonic Weapon
Why in the News?
It is alleged that Serbian Police used a banned sonic weapon to disperse protesters in Belgrade.
What are Sonic Weapons?
- Sonic or acoustic weapons are devices designed to emit loud sounds over long distances, including both audible and inaudible sound waves.
- These waves can cause pain, discomfort, or disorientation.
- While sound amplifiers have been used for centuries, sonic weapons began being used for crowd control in the 1990s, with their first military use in Iraq in 2004.
- Working Mechanism: Sonic weapons use modern transducers to convert energy into concentrated sound, which can be controlled in terms of frequency, level, and duration.
Types of Sonic Weapons:
- Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD):
- Range: Up to 8,900 meters for intelligible speech.
- Sound Level: Can reach up to 160 dB, causing pain and potential hearing damage.
- Mosquito:
- Target Audience: Emits high-pitched sounds painful to younger people (teenagers and those in their twenties). Adults above 30 typically cannot hear it due to age-related hearing loss.
- Infrasonic Weapon:
- Sound Type: Delivers inaudible low-frequency sounds that cause pain and disorientation.
- Development: Still in early stages, with ongoing research into its full potential.
Health Implications:
- Short-Term exposure can cause tinnitus, headaches, nausea, and vertigo.
- Prolonged exposure may lead to permanent hearing damage, and symptoms like tinnitus can last for days.
| PYQ: [UPSC 2023] Consider the following statements regarding Agni-V and BrahMos Missiles: 1. Agni-V is a medium-range supersonic cruise missile, and BrahMos is a solid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missile. 2. Both the missiles are developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only, (b) 2 only, (c) Both 1 and 2, (d) Neither 1 nor 2 |
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