I heard a physicist wonder whether a suicide bomber with a pacemaker would constitute an effective radiation weapon.
Many technical features of what the Pentagon called an "enhanced radiation weapon" had been known for years, and scientists had theorized about a nuclear device that would release most of its energy as radiation.
Among the many advances in military technology, perhaps one of the most unwelcome was the "Active Denial System," a super-short-wavelength radiation weapon that caused intense pain in whoever it was aimed at, be it enemy combatants, protestors, or geese.
While the $143 million nationwide civil support team program for biological, chemical and radiation weapons stumbled in its early days, with criticism over a ballooning budget that might have been better spent on training and equipping local agencies, the New York team has earned praise from some local officials.
The then government could have a choice - it might want to develop warheads with smaller yields against small targets, or those that could penetrate hardened bunkers, or enhanced radiation weapons.
Now, in addition to his weapon, he has a radiation detector, night goggles and thermal imaging.
Still looking for those weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and need a radiation detector?
Curie was a radiation genius.
At both the Police and Fire Departments, the unions and many of the rank and file say they are inadequately prepared to deal with a new world of threats that includes large explosions, radiation, chemical weapons and biological hazards.
Unlike chemotherapy and radiation, blunderbuss weapons that attack healthy as well as cancerous cells and can cause severe side effects, the new agents are designed to kill cancer cells alone.
