Dank Slashdot findet man Artikel, die man sonst nie läse.

Laut New Scientist plant die US Navy, angreifende Torpedos mittels Schallwellen unter Wasser zu vernichten.

"...The ships would be equipped with arrays of 360 transducers each 1 metre square - effectively big flat-panel loudspeakers - running along either side of the hull below the waterline.

When the ship's sonar detects an incoming torpedo, the transducers simultaneously fire an acoustic shock wave of such intensity that the torpedo either detonates early or is disabled by the pulse's crushing force, according to the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is funding the project.

But these are no ordinary loudspeakers: instead of having a membranous diaphragm that can vibrate in response to a range of audio frequencies, each of the devices has a ram-like cylindrical metal armature at its centre. This is projected outwards by electromagnets at very high speed, producing a shock wave. The array can be fired as many times as needed. (Quelle:New Scientist)

War da nicht schon mal was? Innerhalb und außerhalb des Netzes gibt es doch schon seit längerem Spekulationen darüber, warum in den letzten Jahren vermehrt Wale stranden. Eine der Spekulationen zu den Ursachen vermutete, dass gestrandete Wale durch die militärische Verwendung von Infra-Schall oder ähnlichem taub werden und die Gewässertiefe nicht mehr richtig einschätzen können.

... So far, the system's developers, Anteon Technologies of Fairfax, Virginia, and BAE Systems of Farnborough, UK, have only built one transducer. But encouraged by software simulations that show the array should work, they plan to press ahead with a one-quarter-scale test rig.

If it reaches the stage of testing in the open ocean, however, the developers are likely to come into conflict with marine biologists. They have evidence that whales blasted by frequent acoustic signals from submarine or ship sonar appear to develop symptoms of decompression sickness, and die. (New Scientist, 11 October 2003, p 10). (Quelle:New Scientist)

Was auch immer da genau ausgebrütet wird, das klingt gar nicht gut für die Gesundheit der Wale.