A report has been recently unclassified that deals with the state of research regarding non-lethal, electromagnetic weapons.  The report, entitled Bioeffects of Selected Nonlethal Weapons was declassified through the Freedom of Information Act and can be accessed here.

While news and rumors regarding ray-guns and microwave weapons have been turning up from time to time over the last few years, this report goes into the subject to a greater depth. Here are a few of the fancy new horrible -- and horribly effective -- 'non-lethal' weapons the future may have in store for us:

1. 'The Microwave Move-along':  Basically the idea is to emit microwaves across wide angles, with a dish; the microwaves, when hitting people (say, protesters in Tibet for instance) will lead to the sinking suspicion that their flesh is on fire. This actutely uncomfortable weapon does not seem to cause any real damage; but the painful sensations alone would be enough to cause complaince and bad times.  "Body heating to mimic a  fever is the nature of  RF incapacitation..."

2. 'The Psycho-Babbler': This handy device allows communication without the need for sound waves.  Microwave pulses are harnessed in a way that they can be used to transmit sounds directly into someone's skull.  So, for instance, you could stun or debilitate someone through a wall (for instance), or you could have a fairly easy method of driving someone crazy by say, transmitting Rick Roll right into their brains. They'd have no obvious method of stopping this form of communication, and may have a hard time distinguishing where the sounds where coming from. "Microwave hearing is a phenomenon, described by human observers, as, the sensations of buzzing, ticking, hissing or knocking sounds that originate within or immediately behind the head...[this technology] may be useful to provide a disruptive condition to to a person not aware of this technology...it could be psychologically devastating if one suddenly heard "voices within one's head."" -- you got that right U.S Army; it could be psychologically devastating indeed.  

3. 'The Laser Blinder': The next variety of stun weapon may be derived using lasers. The idea is to focus laser-light into the eyes of people, to blind them temporarily, or stun them. Basically this is like shooting a laser-pointer into your buddies' eyes for fun (DO NOT DO THIS), taken to the next logical step.  A couple of reports have suggested these already are in use (I remember reading one was supposedly used (unsuccessfully) to interfere with a commercial pilot when he was taking off; some conspiracy theorists also suggested one was used on Princess Diana's limo driver to make him crash.) "Some studies have shown that dazzle and flashblindness can seriously impact mission performance, especially in highly visual tasks such as piloting an aircraft or aiming..."

While this report was only declassified recently, the source material seems to be from the late 90's. Undoubtedly these programs have developed by then.