Holy Giant Frickin Ray Gun

Officially known by the military as an “active denial system,” the U.S. Army has produced a ray gun. The sound you just heard was geek’s everywhere rejoicing. The weapon uses electromagnetic millimeter waves to make the target feel like they’re about to catch fire. The ray (let’s just call a spade a spade) blasts 130-degree heat over the entire body.

According to the AP the weapon is virtually harmless, with the waves able to penetrate a paltry 1/64th of an inch into skin. At a media demonstration on Wednesday, airmen fired the ray from a dish antenna mounted on a Humvee at some people acting out a typical riot scenario. The targets immediately stopped what they were doing to jump out of the beam’s path.

The system can be mounted aboard any vehicle used in anti-terrorist operations, and is capable of penetrating most clothing. The military denied to comment on whether the beam worked through glass. ”This is one of the key technologies for the future,” Col. Kirk Hymes, director of the non-lethal weapons program at Quantico, said of the new technology, ”Non-lethal weapons are important for the escalation of force.”

The first step is creating a non-lethal weapon for dispersing rioters, but the dream of hearing a commanding officer say to “set your weapons to stun” can’t be far off. The military plans to go into production with the system in 2010. No word on when we’ll be teleporting.