Stop That Car Nov. 29, 2007 -- The same microwave radiation that reheats pizza can be used to fry the electrical systems in cars, stopping them dead in their tracks. <br /><br />Emitted from a rooftop device, the radiation could be used by law enforcement officers to put an end to dangerous car chases or by military personnel as a non-lethal way of disabling vehicles that get too close for comfort. <br /><br />"The idea is to warn an automobile some distance away from a high-value target like a military barrack or a communication center. If they don't comply, you just zap them and it prevents them from coming closer," said James Tatoian, CEO of Eureka Aerospace in Pasadena, Calif. <br /><br />Tatoian and his team have been working on the device since 2003. The current prototype is about 5 feet long, 3 feet wide, a foot thick, and weighs just under 200 pounds. <br /><br />The technology uses the same kind of energy used in microwave ovens, but at a different frequency. Ovens typically operate at 2.45 Ghz, whereas the high-power car-stopping system is at 300 megahertz. In both cases, the radiation is above common radio frequencies and is not harmful to humans. <br /><br />"There are no biological effects," said Tatoian. "We comply with every standard in the literature as far as biological impact." <br /><br />To disable cars, the device first generates energy that is amplified using a generator. The energy is converted to microwave radiation and then directed, by way of a specially designed antenna, at the offender in a narrow beam. <br /><br /><a class="link" rel="nofollow" href="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/11/29/engine-car-stop.html">http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/11/29/engine-car-stop.html</a>
