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by Mark Prigg
23 October 2015
from
DailyMail Website
New flexible material
can block electronic emission
Blocks signals that could be used for cyber-snooping
Can also block electromagnetic 'doomsday' weapons
Could be used to protect drones flying in enemy territory
It could be the ultimate armor against
cyberwarfare.
A Utah firm has revealed a new, flexible material that can create a
'faraday cage' blocking all electronic transmissions. The material
could even be used as wallpaper to protect entire rooms.
WHAT IS THE DOOMSDAY WEAPON?
EMP, or electromagnetic pulse weapons use missiles equipped with
an electromagnetic pulse cannon.
This uses a super-powerful microwave oven to generate a
concentrated beam of energy. The energy causes voltage surges in
electronic equipment, rendering them useless before surge
protectors have the chance to react.
The aim is to destroy an enemy's command, control, communication
and computing, surveillance and intelligence capabilities
without hurting people or infrastructure.
New flexible material
can block electronic emission,
stopping
cybersnooping and thwarting attacks
from electromagnetic
'doomsday' weapons.
Conductive Composites has created a method to layer nickel on carbon
to form a material that's light and moldable like plastic yet can
disperse energy like a traditional metal cage.
'Our materials integrate
game-changing conductivity and shielding performance as part of
a multifunctional materials system, while preserving the basic
weight, cost, structural, environmental, and manufacturing
performance advantages of composites and plastics,' the firm
says.
Using the wallpaper would allow people
to easily turn entire rooms into Faraday cages.
WHAT IS A FARADAY CAGE?
The 'Faraday cage' is named for the English scientist Michael
Faraday, who discovered the principles behind electromagnetic
shielding.
When electromagnetic radiation or static electricity is applied
to a hollow conductor, it is transmitted over the surface of the
conductor - preventing it from passing through the conductor's
interior.
A Faraday cage prevents electromagnetic radiation from
penetrating its exterior, protecting whatever is inside from
static, electromagnetic pulses, radio waves, and other
electromagnetic phenomenon.
In 2013, as the College of Cardinals convened to elect a new
Pope, the Vatican's Sistine Chapel was converted into a Faraday
cage so that news of the election couldn't leak out.
The 'Faraday cage' prevents electromagnetic radiation from penetrating its exterior,
protecting whatever is inside from static, electromagnetic pulses,
radio waves, and other electromagnetic phenomenon.
The material comes amid growing concern over the development of
electromagnetic weapons that could knock out computers.
Controversial tech boss and presidential candidate
John McAfee
recently warned a 'doomsday' electronic weapon could wipe out 90% of
Americans and urged politicians to is the number one threat facing
the country.
McAfee, who recently announced he is running in 2016, wrote in a
blog for International Business Times:
'Experts agree that an all
out cyber attack, beginning with an EMP (electromagnetic pulse)
attack on our electronic infrastructure, would wipe out 90% of the
human population of this country within two years of the attack.
The firm also makes
a
range of secure cases using the new material
'That means the death of 270 million
people within 24 months after the attack.'
He claims that the country, and its
leaders are unprepared - and warned that gun crime should not be the
'single issue' that decided votes.
'Our leaders are nearly all ill
prepared for this near certain, not-too-distant event.
'If I were forced to choose a single issue, this would obviously
be the issue.'
From Ocean's Eleven to Star Trek,
weapons that wipe out enemy electronics are a staple of science
fiction films.
The missile is equipped with an electromagnetic pulse cannon. This
uses a super-powerful microwave oven to generate a concentrated beam
of energy.
The energy causes voltage surges in electronic equipment,
rendering them useless before surge protectors have the chance to
react
The missile is
equipped with an electromagnetic pulse cannon.
This uses a
super-powerful microwave oven to generate a concentrated beam of
energy.
The energy causes
voltage surges in electronic equipment,
rendering them
useless before surge protectors have the chance to react
For years, scientists have been attempting to create such a weapon
as part of 'Champ', or the
Counter-Electronics High-Powered Microwave
Advanced Missile Project.
Now, the US Air Force claims it has advanced the technology, and
says it can deploy it using the stealthy Joint Air-to-Surface
Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM).
There are fears a well targeted attack
could knock out multiple power stations.
'This technology marks a new era in
modern-day warfare,' said Keith Coleman, CHAMP program manager
for Boeing Phantom Works.
'In the near future, this technology may be used to render an
enemy's electronic and data systems useless even before the
first troops or aircraft arrive.'
McAfee says this is a huge issue being
ignored.
McAfee, pictured,
claims the country
and its leaders are unprepared
for EMP weapons - and
warned that gun crime
should not be the
'single issue' that decided votes.
He hit out at President Obama's focus on gun control.
On 2 October, President Obama declared:
'Here's what you need to do: You
have to make sure that anybody that you are voting for is on the
right side of this issue.'
If politicians oppose these measures, he
continued,
'even if they're great on other
stuff, you've got to vote against them.'
McAfee said he was initially confused by
the statement.
'Frantically searching again for my
benzodiazepines, and certain that rabid squirrels would
imminently emerge from my wristwatch and form a tribunal
accusing me of crimes against humanity, a saving thought flashed
into my mind:
He claims antidepressants could be to
blame for the gun control issues.
'In the 1980s we saw the first wide
scale use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
(antidepressants), such as Prozac, Paxil and others.
'Hundreds of studies have shown that these antidepressants have
side effects that include violent thoughts.
'A few minutes of research will tell us that 8% of the US
population is taking antidepressants, yet a known 30% of all
mass murderers since 1980 were taking antidepressants, and it is
highly suspected that the real number approaches 90% - a
statistical anomaly of egregious proportions.'
'But it is much easier to disprove a cause (as we did with guns
above) than it is to prove a cause.'
'In any case, the President's proposal - that we abandon the
complex process of weighing the near infinite issues that are
important to us, and to choose a single issue upon which we can
direct the entire future of our society, may well, in the
confusion of my simple mind, be the Holy Grail of politics.
'But if it is then surely weighing the possible deaths of 90% of
our citizens due to cyber warfare against gun violence which
causes fewer deaths per year than traffic accidents, seems that
possibly our president is suffering an acid flashback rather
than myself.'
For years, scientists have been attempting
to turn fantasy into
reality by working on a system known as 'Champ', or
Counter-electronics
High-powered microwave Advanced Missile Project
According to
Foxtrot Alpha, the weapons are
almost ready for use.
Once integrated into JASSM, Champ will be a 'first day of war'
standoff weapon it claims.
Because it can be launched by both bombers and fighters, Lockheed's
Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, or JASSM, is an ideal
platform for Champ.
'The capability is real… and the
technology can be available today,' said Major General Thomas
Masiello, the Air Force Research Laboratory.
'That's an operational system already in our tactical air
force'.
In 2012, aircraft manufacturer Boeing
successfully tested the weapon on a one-hour flight during which it
knocked out the computers of an entire military compound.
During Boeing's experiment, the missile flew low over the Utah Test
and Training Range, discharging electromagnetic pulses on to seven
targets, permanently shutting down their electronics.
Boeing said that the test was so successful even the camera
recording it was disabled.
Although the project is shrouded in secrecy, experts believe the
missile is equipped with an electromagnetic pulse cannon.
This uses a super-powerful microwave oven to generate a concentrated
beam of energy which causes voltage surges in electronic equipment,
rendering them useless before surge protectors have the chance to
react.
Boeing's CHAMP takes out enemy electronics with pulse:
The missile is equipped with an electromagnetic pulse cannon.
This uses a super-powerful microwave oven to generate a concentrated
beam of energy. The energy causes voltage surges in electronic
equipment, rendering them useless before surge protectors have the
chance to react
Keith Coleman, Champ program manager for Boeing's prototype
arm Phantom Works, claims the technology marked 'a new era in modern
warfare'.
'In the near future, this technology
may be used to render an enemy's electronic and data systems
useless even before the first troops or aircraft arrive,' he
said during the initial test.
However, experts fear that the project
could create an arms race, with countries scrambling to build their
own electromagnetic pulse weapons.
Professor Trevor Taylor, Professorial Fellow at the Royal
United Services Institute, has previously said the Western world
would be more vulnerable attack because of its increased reliance on
electronics.
'Should the US be known to have
developed such a technology to the production stage, it would
drive others to try to act similarly,' he said.
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