A tool or instrument used in order to inflict damage or harm to living beings - physical or mental -, artificial structures, or systems.
Questions tagged [weapons]
66 questions
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Does body armor render the wearer "invulnerable" to bullets?
The vicious murderer who shot up the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado last week was wearing, according to some reports, "full body armor."* Proponents of concealed-carry permits maintain that if the theater had not been a "gun-free" zone, the…
Robusto
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Did pirates shoot massive cannonball salvos?
It is commonly shown in movies that pirate ships would flank their target, and then shoot huge salvos of cannonballs at it.
I think that it doesn't really make any sense: if they wanted to steal a ship or its contents, shooting 10-20 cannonballs at…
Sklivvz
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Was Russian Su-24 fighter able to disable electronics aboard USS Donald Cook and thus lead to personnel aboard the ship to resign?
According to some news sources, an incident occurred on April 11th, 2014, between a Russian SU-24 fighter jet (some articles refer to it as a "tactical bomber") and USS Donald Cook (a guided missile destroyer) which at the time was doing "patrol…
x457812
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Can a gun be made from ceramic?
In the film Die Hard 2 one of the bad guys has a porcelain gun (clip):
That punk pulled a Glock 7 on me. You know what that is? It's a porcelain gun made in Germany. Doesn't show up on your airport X-ray machines, and it cost more than you make in…
Tom77
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Do hovercraft trigger minefields?
In the James Bond movie, Die Another Day, it is claimed that hovercrafts won't trigger mines in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.
Griffon Hoverwork who sell hovercrafts make a similar claim (hat-tip to @Oliver_C):
Griffon…
user9045
18
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Has weather been weaponised?
A letter in The Guardian makes the following claims:
While seemingly fantastical, weather has been weaponised. At least four countries – the US, Russia, China and Israel – possess the technology and organisation to regularly alter weather and…
Tom77
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Can a ninja star (hira shuriken) used as a thrown weapon kill?
In many movies, especially from the 80's when Ninjas were involved they would use their ninja stars as a deadly weapon. An example clip is here.
Is this realistic? Can a ninja star penetrate and be accurate enough to kill a person?
Sonny Ordell
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Would a laser weapon visibly fire?
Whenever movies portray laser weapons, they do so with a very visible beam hitting the target and then incapacitating and/or killing them. Laser weapons exist in real life, although only at the prototype stage. See this Wired story for instance.
Is…
Sonny Ordell
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Did Seal Team Six fire more rounds in one year than the entire Marine Corps's ammunition allowance?
In season 2, episode 7 of Black Ops, the narrator asserts that
In one year, Seal Team Six fired more rounds than the entire Marine Corps ammunition allowance.
Thats a pretty impressive statistic, but it kind of comes out of the blue and has no…
David says Reinstate Monica
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Breaking the bottom brick with your hands
In the movie Bloodsport, which claims to be based on a true story, the lead character is challenged to break one brick at the bottom of a stack, using only his hands. He successfully causes the bottom brick to disintegrate by striking the top brick…
Brian M. Hunt
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Was the Browning Automatic Rifle kept from US troops during WWI?
On the History Channel show Modern Marvels: Engineering Disasters 2 (S05E30) there is a segment on the French Chauchat rifle. Dr. Jack Atwater, former director of the US Army Ordnance Museum, makes the claim that American soldiers were issued…
Tom
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Can you dum-dum bullets using a knife?
In many Hollywood movies and other media such as comic books you can see someone pull out a knife and carve an X into the end of their bullets to turn make them like dum-dum bullets.
Is this possible in reality with a knife and will it have the…
going
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Do inaudible sonic weapons exist?
The US is investigating whether diplomats in Cuba were subjected to a sonic weapon that caused hearing problems:
The Guardian, 11 Aug 2017
One or more Canadians affected after suspected use of sound weapon against US personnel in Havana led to…
Miguel
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Have US Navy SEALs used tomahawk axes as weapons?
I read the first paragraph of an article in The New York Times today. It said of US Navy SEAL Team 6:
On clandestine raids in the dead of the night, their weapons of choice have ranged from customized carbines to primeval tomahawks.
Is this true,…
Ellie Kesselman
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Can a thrown knife be used to kill silently?
Making stealth kills with a throwing knife is a common trope in popular culture, from movies like Rambo, 'realistic' spy novels like Jason Bourne to video games like Far Cry 4. Additionally, several sources claim that they were utilized by special…
Twilight Sparkle
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