This is something I heard about sometime ago and almost forgot it.
A scientist in California is working on what essentially is a ray gun, this could be misintepreted as a phaser but it’s not, it’s actually a device similar to a Tazer, except it can be used at distance instead of being applied to the skin as the Tazer does.
It uses a laser and photons to discharge an electrical current which will paralyze a human being for a short time, the only snag is that it could affect an innocent bystanders vision. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/342188.stm
ADM