'dowsing rod' bomb detectors in iraq

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twitchmoss

twitchmoss

This made my head hurt when i read it. and made me very, very pissed off.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8471187.stm

they've been using bomb detectors in iraq which turned out to be no better than DOWSING RODS. it looks high tech, but uses no batteries, contains bugger all electronics, and the 'cards' turned out to just be anti-shoplifting tags. oh, and it doesn't even contain batteries, since 'the device is powered by static electricity from the user'

and the things are being sold for $40,000. PER UNIT. :explode:

and whats worse is that the main defender is a major general in the interior ministry.

The only upside is that the son of a bitch whos been selling these has been arrested, and theres a ban on the export of the stuff. but... why the fuck did it take this long?! it didn't even take much examination to find out the things were fake!

normally i'm not the kind of person to say 'kill the bastard'... but part of me is hoping that they drop this asshole in a minefield with his own wonderous bomb detector.
 
O

Overflight

^This. The thought of the sheer amount of people killed by this ABOMINABLE act is horribly rage inducing. I usually don't advocate this sort of thing but I highly endorse the minefield plan.
 
I

Iaculus

Better yet, have the government fine this guy dry so's they have to cash to buy gear that actually works and is useful.
 
Rob King

Rob King

You know, to take this in another direction, I have a female friend who swears that she is able to douse for water ... and she's not the kind of person to make unfounded claims.

I suggested she take my dousing rod for a spin to prove it.

:smug:
 
Z

Zarvox

Rob King said:
You know, to take this in another direction, I have a female friend who swears that she is able to douse for water ... and she's not the kind of person to make unfounded claims.

I suggested she take my dousing rod for a spin to prove it.

:smug:
Click to expand...
Tell her about the Randi million dollar paranormal challenge (http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/1m-challenge.html) Even if she doesn't want the money, I'm sure she can think of a charity that would love to have it.
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

There's profiteering from war... and then there's this. :mad2:

+1 from me for the minefield plan.:target:
 
I

Iaculus

Welp, now we know who this guy bribed to open a market for his stuff.
 
K

Kourosism

I read that article earlier. Made me ashamed to be British.

As for the girl who believes she can douse for water, can she demo this? Say, take her to a place she's unfamiliar with (no advance warning of the destination, mind you) and give a demo of her water dowsing skills? Or is she just flat talking out of her arse? :hmmm:

Whilst we're on the subject, I highly recommend each and every one of you to read this.
 
fade

fade

Staff member
Well...

I in no way want to defend this guy, but those anti-theft devices ARE induction loops, which are the same things that metal detectors use to detect and distinguish metals, and that geophysicists use to detect things like...bombs. An EMF like the one from a static shock could actually cause the thing to move, but that doesn't mean that the movement has anything to do with the presence of explosives. In fact, with no source field, that's extremely unlikely.

It's kind of the same thing with dowsing. At least with metal rods. Theoretically, those rods could possibly detect the electric field associated with a spontaneous potential, which is usually related to water flow. But the torque introduced would probably pale in comparison to the angular momenta introduced by wrist movements and wind, etc.
 
@Li3n

@Li3n

From what i read no one actually seems to have tested them against actual explosives, they just took them apart and only found the anti-shoplifting chips...
 
S

Soliloquy

Now, see, this is why tar-and-feathering was so popular back in the day.
 
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