The Navy tested an incredible gun yesterday. A rail gun that uses electromagnetic energy instead of a chemical explosion to shoot a projectile. Currently, large guns on a ship have a range of 23 miles. A rail gun has a range of 230 miles. It also throws a projectile at a speed of mach 7 when its fired and still has a speed of mach 5 at impact. Besides giving naval ships a much further range, this new gun is much safer because it does not rely on an explosion to propel the projectile. Before today's test, the only place that you could see such a gun was on "Battlestar Galactica" or by playing "Quake." Cool, huh?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080201/sc_livescience/navytestsincrediblescifiweapon;_ylt=Ag9QtPAbRRQSJ7ZBySRHaPIDW7oF
