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The Taser Gun's Physical Effect

Your body uses electricity to move your muscles. A Taser essentially overwhelms that system, causing temporary paralysis. But few independent studies have been done on the weapons.

Copyright 2005 NPR

David Kestenbaum is a correspondent for NPR, covering science, energy issues and, most recently, the global economy for NPR's multimedia project Planet Money. David has been a science correspondent for NPR since 1999. He came to journalism the usual way — by getting a Ph.D. in physics first.