"Two years ago, U.S. intelligence analysts concluded, in unusually
emphatic language, that a mysterious and debilitating ailment known as “Havana syndrome” was not the handiwork of a foreign adversary wielding some kind of energy weapon. That long-awaited finding shattered an
alternative theory embraced by American diplomats and intelligence
officers, who said they had been victims of a deliberate, clandestine
campaign by a U.S. adversary, probably Russia, that left them disabled, struggling with chronic pain, and drowning in medical bills. The
intelligence report, written chiefly by the CIA, appeared to close the
book on Havana syndrome.

Turns out, it didn’t. New information has come to light causing some in
the intelligence community to adjust their previous conclusions. And a
new report reopens the possibility that a mystery weapon used by a
foreign adversary caused Havana syndrome. At the White House, senior Biden-administration officials are more convinced than their colleagues
in the intelligence agencies that Havana syndrome could have been the
result of a deliberate attack by an American foe."

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2025/01/havana-syndrome-russia-intelligence/681282/

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ltlee1@hotmail.com (ltlee1) wrote:

"Two years ago, U.S. intelligence analysts concluded, in unusually
emphatic language, that a mysterious and debilitating ailment known as “Havana syndrome” was not the handiwork of a foreign adversary wielding some kind of energy weapon. That long-awaited finding shattered an alternative theory embraced by American diplomats and intelligence
officers, who said they had been victims of a deliberate, clandestine campaign by a U.S. adversary, probably Russia, that left them disabled, struggling with chronic pain, and drowning in medical bills. The
intelligence report, written chiefly by the CIA, appeared to close the
book on Havana syndrome.

Turns out, it didn’t. New information has come to light causing some in
the intelligence community to adjust their previous conclusions. And a
new report reopens the possibility that a mystery weapon used by a
foreign adversary caused Havana syndrome. At the White House, senior Biden-administration officials are more convinced than their colleagues
in the intelligence agencies that Havana syndrome could have been the
result of a deliberate attack by an American foe."

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2025/01/havana-syndrome-russia-intelligence/681282/

Do you post it here because PRC insolvent "may be coming"? :-)

--
A. Filip
| The only possible interpretation of any research whatever in the
| `social sciences' is: some do, some don't. (Ernest Rutherford)

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Some background information:

"When James Lin, a professor at the University of Illinois, read the
first reports about the mysterious sounds in Havana, he immediately
suspected that microwaves were responsible. His belief was based not
just on theoretical research, but first-hand experience. Decades
earlier, he had heard the sounds himself. 

Since its emergence around World War Two, there had been reports of
people being able to hear something when a nearby radar was switched on
and began sending microwaves into the sky. This was even though there
was no external noise. In 1961, a paper by Dr Allen Frey argued the
sounds were caused by microwaves interacting with the nervous system,
leading to the term the "Frey Effect". But the exact causes - and
implications - remained unclear.
In the 1970s, Prof Lin set to work conducting his experiments at the
University of Washington.  He sat on a wooden chair in a small room
lined with absorbent materials, an antenna aimed at the back of his
head. In his hand he held a light switch. Outside, a colleague sent
pulses of microwaves through the antenna at random intervals. If Prof
Lin heard a sound, he pressed the switch.  

A single pulse sounded like a zip or a clicking finger. A series of
pulses like a bird chirping. They were produced in his head rather than
as sound waves coming from outside. Prof Lin believed the energy was
absorbed by the soft brain tissue and converted to a pressure wave
moving inside the head, which was interpreted by the brain as sound.
This occurred when high-power microwaves were delivered as pulses rather
than in the low-power continuous form you get from a modern microwave
oven or other devices.
..

During the Cold War, science was the focus of intense super-power
rivalry. Even areas like mind control were explored,  amid fears of the
other side getting an edge - and this included microwaves. 

Prof Lin was shown the Soviet approach at a centre of scientific
research in the town of Pushchino, near Moscow. "They had a very
elaborate, very well-equipped laboratory," Prof Lin recalls. But their experiment was cruder than his. The subject would sit in a drum of salty seawater with their head sticking out. Then microwaves would be fired at
their brain. The scientists thought the microwaves interacted with the
nervous system and wanted to question Prof Lin on his alternative view. 

Curiosity cut both ways, and US spies kept close track on Soviet
research. A 1976 report by the US Defense Intelligence Agency, unearthed
by the BBC, says it could find no proof of Communist-bloc microwave
weapons, but says it had learnt of experiments where microwaves were
pulsed at the throat of frogs until their hearts stopped. "

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-58396698

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"Electric sparks are used for welding, powering electronics, killing
germs or for igniting the fuel in some car engines. Despite their
usefulness, they are hard to control in open space, they split into
chaotic branches that tend to go towards the closest metallic objects.

A recent study uncovers a way of transporting electricity through air by ultrasonic waves. The level of control of the electric sparks allows to
guide the spark around obstacles, or to make it hit specific spots, even
into non-conductive materials.

"We observed this phenomenon more than one year ago, then it took us
months to control it, and even longer to find an explanation," says Dr.
Asier Marzo from the Public University of Spain, lead researcher of the
work.

This guidance occurs because the sparks heat up the air, which expands
and lowers its density. The hot air is then guided by ultrasonic waves
into regions where the sound intensity is higher and the next sparks
then follow these regions of lighter air because of its lower breakdown voltage."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/02/250206113737.htm

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