Don't slime 'em until you can see the whites of their eyes

Instead of quelling riotous crowds with tear gas or rubber bullets, peacekeepers may soon be sliming them.

A portable device worn like a Ghostbuster backpack allows the wearer to cover the ground in goo so slippery it's almost impossible for a person to maintain their footing.

Until protest organizers catch on, and start handing out bags of sand. The range of projection also seems far too short for stopping a charging crowd:

The nozzles can shoot the non-toxic material up to 25 feet, enough leeway to slime the ground in front of a maddening mob.

I presume "maddened" is what is meant here.

I could see some real problems with this, at least until they figure out how to spray it greater distances. It might be useful as is to set up no-cross lines, though it might not be so hard to cross just by running up to the treated area and then skating or sliding to the other side. From Discovery News.

Posted by David on June 20, 2006 11:42 AM