PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “MILITARY SCIENCE”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources
PubMed2002

A maritime navigation display that provides visual feedback to improve conning officers' ship-handling during low visibility environments.

Navigating a ship at night in close proximity to another vessel is a dangerous task. To improve conning officers' night time ship-handling performance, a visual navigation display is proposed that is mounted on the stern of the aircraft carrier that will help shipboard conning officers manoeuvre in a battle group formation. To test the effectiveness of the visual navigation display, the Nimitz-class aircraft and plane guard vessel, a Ticonderoga-class cruiser, were modelled in a virtual environment. A navigation display condition had significantly fewer navigational positional errors than a non-navigation display condition. The navigation display provided immediate feedback as to whether the aircraft carrier had changed bearing or speed, thus enabling the operator to initiate the appropriate input to maintain station astern of the carrier. Actual or potential applications of this research include the deployment of a maritime navigation display to assist conning officers' ship handling.

Computer Graphics↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A psychosocial vaccine against militarism.

Militarism is considered to be a psychosocial disease. An aetiological agent for this disease has been identified. Acting much like a computer virus, this agent is shown to produce a radical transformation of the consciousness of parties in conflict, without their realizing what has happened. This results in a paranoid illusion in the minds of both parties, an illusion made real by the fact that both parties accept it as real. To provide immunity against militarism, a psychosocial vaccine has been developed, and is described.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

An overview of the future of non-lethal weapons.

During the past decade, vast changes have occurred in the geopolitical landscape and the nature of the types of conflicts in which technologically developed countries have been involved. While the threat of conventional war remains, forces have been more frequently deployed in situations that require great restraint. Adversaries are often likely to be elusive and commingled with noncombatants. There has been some shift in public opinion away from tolerance of collateral casualties. Therefore there is a need to be able to apply force while limiting casualties. Non-lethal weapons provide part of the solution. Among the changes that will influence the future have been studies by the US and NATO concerning the use of non-lethal weapons, coincidental with increased funding for their development and testing. New concepts and policies have recently been formalized. Surprisingly, the most strident objections to the implementation of non-lethal weapons have come from organizations that are ostensibly designed to protect non-combatants. These arguments are specious and, while technically and academically challenging, actually serve to foster an environment that will result in the deaths of many more innocent civilians. They misconstrue technology with human intent. The reasons for use of force will not abate. Alternatives to bombs, missiles, tanks and artillery must therefore be found. Non-lethal weapons are not a panacea but do offer the best hope of minimizing casualties while allowing nations or alliances the means to use force in protection of national or regional interests.

Behavior↗
PubMedDate not supplied

'Non-lethal' weapons and international law: three perspectives on the future.

Literature on 'non-lethal' weapons (NLWs) frequently contains assertions that more robust NLW development and use are needed because of the changing nature of military operations. These assertions are in opposition to international legal analysis of NLWs, which show international law restricting NLW development and use. This article examines this tension by briefly analyzing the restrictive impact that international law has on NLWs and by elaborating three perspectives on what the relationship between NLWs and international law should be. The article outlines the moral foundations for existing international law on the use of force and armed conflict and then sketches international law's current impact on NLW development and use. Next, the article explores the compliance, selective and radical change perspectives that emerge from discourse about international law and NLWs. The compliance perspective insists that NLWs comply with existing rules of international law. The selective change perspective seeks limited changes in international law to allow more robust use of NLWs. The radical change perspective sees in NLWs the potential to reform radically international law on the use of force and armed conflict. Identifying the three perspectives helps clarify future choices NLWs may present in international law and suggests that the future relationship between NLWs and international law will be more complex, controversial and dangerous than people may realize.

Forecasting↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The role of sub-lethal weapons in human rights abuse.

This article is based on two recent reports contracted by the European Parliament (EP), which assessed sub-lethal weapons as flexible tools of political control. It analyses the role and function of existing weapons systems in human rights abuses using examples from Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, Northern Ireland and Turkey. These weapons are designed to 'appear' rather than 'be' safe and, since they augment rather than replace lethal technologies, their use can distort conflicts and actually bridge the firewall between use of less-lethal and lethal technologies.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Non-lethal weapons technologies--the case for independent scientific analysis.

Various technologies have been proposed for non-lethal weapons (NLW), some of them credible, or at least plausible, but strong claims were made for others without evidence or references. Five such technologies are examined. For the chemical and biological examples, detailed information is lacking but the diminishing number of such claims over time and general scientific knowledge suggest that fulfilment of the promises is improbable. For acoustic weapons, a detailed study found that many of the claims are plainly untrue. In this case, even wrong values for physiological thresholds were presented. Civil and military NLW programmes in the USA put their main emphasis on simple, short-term technologies rather than exotic ones. In order to avoid dangers arising from unrealistic promises, the concept of preventive arms control should be applied to NLW. Its first step is a scientific analysis, investigating the new weapons, the propagation of their effects and the effect on the targets. Such detailed studies are needed for each proposed NLW technology.

Acoustics↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Future police operations and non-lethal weapons.

Society has entrusted the police with power and obligation to enforce law, maintain order and protect its members and the legal order of society. To be able to fulfil these obligations the police need credible means of countering threats against these values. Selecting the weapons, or rather use of force instruments, presents a multifaceted problem of balancing human considerations, judicial and societal requirements with tactical needs and technological possibilities. No matter what the incident is, a police-officer is expected to protect the innocent, him/herself, colleagues and the object persons and to cause no more harm than is justifiable and unavoidable. Unfortunately there is no safe use of force and in real life the only option available for resolving certain conflicts is some degree of force. Any weapon can be misused but most weapons have a legitimate use. Denying legitimate use, as well as allowing uncontrolled use, may lead to unnecessary suffering and loss of life. Technology is offering interesting alternative possibilities to the police and these must be considered with open eyes, bearing in mind that misuse, like torture, is not a property inherent to technology but an intentional behaviour of some people. Thorough research and fair and credible controls on police weaponry are needed to avert the possibility of misuse and to maintain trust.

Conflict, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Operationalizing non-lethality: a Northern Ireland perspective.

'The troubles' over the last 33 years in Northern Ireland have claimed the lives of 3,636 people, including 302 police-officers and 644 soldiers. Of these deaths, 315 were attributed to the military and 52 to the police.(1) Formative experience of public disorder within the early parts of the conflict is reviewed. This article places the evolution, development and use of baton rounds (rubber and plastic bullets) in context and describes the training of police in their use. The development of a conflict management strategy which provides synergy with community based policing is discussed and the importance of understanding the underlying causes of a conflict for law enforcement personnel is emphasized.

Civil Disorders↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Perspectives and implications for the proliferation of non-lethal weapons in the context of contemporary conflict, security interests and arms control.

This article briefly looks at the characteristics of contemporary conflict and the global political arena, particularly from 1989 and the end of the cold war. The development of and potential roles for second generation non-lethal weapons (NLWs) in war-fighting, peace support operations, and civil policing are discussed. There are arguments both for and against further and rapid development of NLWs. The question of proliferation and arms control is examined within the context of concepts such as the revolution in military affairs (RMA) and factors such as the increasing role of non-state actors, current security requirements and the problems concerning the implementation and enforcement of current and envisaged arms control regimes. Proliferation, which may be vertical or horizontal, may not always be seen as a malign process but rather one which requires specific ethical and operational perspectives. Proliferation is about both technology push and operational requirements. The effectiveness of legislative approaches to controlling proliferation, especially to countries which are considered to have poor human rights records, is discussed and issues about who wants to control NLWs, and why, are raised. Some technologies may be seen as less threatening to existing arms control and management treaties and the ethical debates which surround them. A concern regarding increasing use of non-lethal technologies for political oppression is part of this debate. The issues are illustrated using India as case study.

Chemical Warfare Agents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The potential for abuse of genetics in militarily significant biological weapons.

Concern has been expressed at successive Review Conferences of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) regarding the possible misuse of new biological knowledge; this article reviews some of these developments. Genetic manipulation, and genomics in particular, would modify existing pathogens and render previously harmless organisms pathogenic. Viruses could be modified as vectors to alter their pathogenicity in animals and man or act as carriers for genes or toxins. Plant pathogens, particularly fungi, could be modified as biological warfare agents against crops. An effective verification protocol for the BTWC is an essential part of the web of deterrence against these developments.

Biological Warfare↗