Zapping mosquitoes one by one with a laser - can it work?
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Malaria is a serious issue across the globe. It is a preventable disease, and yet it kills millions of people each year. In fact, every 43 seconds, a child in Africa dies from malaria. Everything from pesticide-soaked wall paper to landscaping techniques have been employed as preventative measures, and while simple things like mosquito nets are often the best solution, sometimes the big guns are required - laser guns, that is.
In a recent TED Talk, Nathan Myhrvold shows off his team's latest way-ouside-the-box inventions, including a prototype for a device to better diagnose malaria and, get this, a new mosquito-zapping tool.
To literally shoot mosquitoes out of the sky to protect clinics, perimeters of villages, and even organic farms from other pests, is an incredible concept. Watching the laser chase mosqutoes during the demonstration looked much like watching the radar screen of a fighter plane in a war movie - with planes that blow just the wings off enemy planes.
Could this one day be a realistic solution to battling malaria without the use of pesticides? It's certainly worth trying it out!
