How do you know when your genius is bored?

tony7914 · Joined: Dec 24, 2004 Posts: 4965 Location: Peru Indiana

Rocket Scientists Shoot Down Mosquitoes With Lasers

Quote:

By ROBERT A. GUTH
BELLEVUE, Wash. -- A quarter-century ago, American rocket scientists proposed the "Star Wars" defense system to knock Soviet missiles from the skies with laser beams. Some of the same scientists are now aiming their lasers at another airborne threat: the mosquito.

In a lab in this Seattle suburb, researchers in long white coats recently stood watching a small glass box of bugs. Every few seconds, a contraption 100 feet away shot a beam that hit the buzzing mosquitoes, one by one, with a spot of red light.

The insects survived this particular test, which used a non-lethal laser. But if these researchers have their way, the Cold War missile-defense strategy will be reborn as a WMD: Weapon of Mosquito Destruction.......

Source.

Picture this, a hot summer night, relaxing to a cold beer on the deck, the sound of crickets and frogs, enjoying the light show as mosquitoes are toasted one by one before your eyes! Wink

xavierx · Joined: Nov 06, 2004 Posts: 5427

From that article:

Quote:

There's work on genetically altering a bacterium to infect and kill a mosquito, and a project to build a malaria-free mosquito genetically enhanced to overtake the natural kind.

So, our new overlords will be the mosquitoes!

tony7914 · Joined: Dec 24, 2004 Posts: 4965 Location: Peru Indiana