Sonic attacks on US diplomats likely microwave energy, government study says | Hacker News Reader

Sonic attacks on US diplomats likely microwave energy, government study says

cnn.com

28 pointsspekcular19 comments

Still skeptical. MRIs aren't that precise and we've seen similar epidemics before that turned out to be fake and driven by mass hysteria. Someone reports an unusual effect or illness and suddenly everyone attributes any weird feelings/illnesses with the same thing.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/1999/jul/06/healtha...

These would be directional microwave weapons, not run of the mill microwaves. The people affected have evidence of neurological damage, so it’s not just psychological.

https://apnews.com/article/why-some-scientists-turn-away-bra...

The symptoms mentioned in these cases are “fleeting and transient.” That is very much not the case here. People are suffering from long term, serious, physically verifiable injury.

https://apnews.com/article/why-some-scientists-turn-away-bra...

Serious question: I'm not a lawyer, but isn't attacks on diplomatic officials considered an act of aggression? Thus can lead to international denouncement and potential UN actions?

Yes intentionally harming diplomats could be considered an act of war. The trouble here is they still have plausible deniability; there's no hard proof.

I read China used this on the Indian border too.

Here’s the fake news version: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2020/11/20/disput...

As this news turns less fake, how does one defend against microwave attacks?

Depending on the wavelength I guess there exist lightweight mesh fabrics that are pretty efficient at blocking waves. Wonder if that would work for this application.

What about the head?

This might be the opportunity to unironically recommend tinfoil hats.

That'd be like wrapping a potato in foil, you're just going to make it a lot easier to get your head baked.

Wrapping a potato in aluminum foil is not going to make it easier to cook in a microwave oven..

>not going to make it easier to cook in a microwave oven..

But makes it easier to cook your microwave oven itself.

You could theoretically design a faraday cage full enclosure bed curtain instead of a tinfoil hat.

Anti radiation missile.

I'm fairly sure I remember the insect science community suggested cicadas or something at one point, I don't think it's impossible. More likely than antagonism honestly

Yep, it was a specific species of cicadas, but it is not like reality ever stopped US State Department from doing its thing

Can we now start to embed tin-foil-hats into fedoras please?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com