On Star Trek, a phaser could stun life forms or kill and vaporize them, depending on the setting.
The Department of Defense (DoD), in collaboration with several universities and small companies, are developing a non-lethal laser weapon which can send voice commands or burn people's skin to repel targets over long distances.
Known as the Scalable Compact Ultra-short Pulse Laser Systems (SCUPLS), the technology could be employed on small tactical vehicles and other platforms to be used in situations such as crowd control, according to David Law, chief scientist from the DoD's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate.
SCUPLS Doesn't sound as cool as "Phaser" -- but, hey, still pretty neat.
Also: Star Trek: The technology won, but Roddenberry's visionary society lost
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