Apparently some would be pirates attempting to take control of a cruise ship off the coast of Africa were thwarted by a sonic weapon known as an LRAD, or Long Range Acoustic Device. The weapon focuses a narrow beam of sound that hits 150 decibels. Seems like enough to make someone run away. Cheers to the inventors of such a non-lethal device.
Source: Pirates Thwarted by Sonic Weapon via Slashdot
As a completely related side note, the title of this post earned me a “+5, Funny” comment on Slashdot. Gained me five moderator points this morning as well. Sweet.