Mosquito Laser

I've been hearing about this company, Intellectual Ventures, and their work on trying to combat malaria by building lasers that shoot down mosquitos. It's pretty interesting to me.

Incredible Laser Zaps Mosquitoes in Midair | Hack N Mod

Out of curiosity, is there a particular reason why they are using violet color beams? Is this color especially suited for mosquitos for some reason? I think I heard from someone one time that violet beams are some of the best for burning - is this true?

This is a link to the company's solution: http://www.intellectualventures.com/index.php/inventions-patents/our-inventions/photonic-fence

From what I understand, most recently they've also developed a hand held laser specifically for this purpose as well.

Waving a handheld laser device around capable of burning a mosquito is absolutely dangerous and a stupid idea. This should go on the fail thread

Kookapeli said:

Waving a handheld laser device around capable of burning a mosquito is absolutely dangerous and a stupid idea. This should go on the fail thread

Click to expand...

No. He mentioned a handheld device for killing mosquitos. Not exactly a handheld laser. Something with an automatic aim system? :shhh:

edit: @op
It seems to be IR for me, not violet...

still, firing lasers about into the air is asking for trouble

Kookapeli said:

still, firing lasers about into the air is asking for trouble

Click to expand...

No more sky beamshots then

"Waving a handheld laser device around capable of burning a mosquito is absolutely dangerous and a stupid idea. This should go on the fail thread"

My thread is more about the science behind such an idea and if it's even feasible. It was intended to be at least a little more thoughtful than a simple "hey guyz lets flash a laser at mosquitos hue hue hue" thread.

Apparently they have some pretty high powered scientists that have worked on this (guys that have worked on the Star Wars defense system). I thought it was interesting that finding adequate power sources for such a fence was brought up as a problem and not the actual danger of the laser beam being flashed around. This makes me think they considered that danger and thought of a way to mitigate it.

It seems a little too far fetched for me and is going into the realms of Star Wars firing lasers. Also could the distance tracking of such a tiny insect be done also the automatic focusing too ??

Yeah it says it searches (scans?) for mosquito wings noise... that is around 20khz...
If they use this for targeting, many dc-dc converters would be targeted...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetostriction

Wonder if it makes the "pew pew" noises

This is hardly as far fetched and ridiculous as you make it sound Kookapeli. Its actually something that is very real and very useful. Nobody said anything about waving a handheld laser at mosquitoes anywhere. This would be a complex computer controlled system that targets mosquitoes specifically. To have a system like this active targeting and killing mosquitoes 24/7 given time you could significantly decrease the population of mosquitoes in an area.

A way that one could make this type of device safer for use around humans is utilizing focal points. If the laser was focused in such a way that its focal point were along a very defined single plane and anything beyond that plane would be drastically out of focus the laser would expand and become harmless from a short distance away. This however would limit its capabilities of killing mosquitoes to pretty exact distances from the device. The degree to which the laser is focused and whether or not it can change its focus would determine its range of effectiveness and its range of potential hazard to someone's eyes.

Also, who says you couldn't put a guard around the exact plane of target area that would act as a beam stop that could sit a foot or two(or maybe even three feet) away from the device. The guard could be any size because the beam could be controlled to target only set parameters. Also using specific frequencies for targeting would be fine because the device would have limited range and could easily be placed away from sources.

People place themselves around harmful chemicals all the time in attempts to eliminate what they consider pests. A laser however would pose no such permanent threat if designed carefully.

Very interesting, but it likely wouldn't sell. A bottle of "Off" will run you a few bucks, while a mosquito targeting laser would likely run far more, and therefore only be a cool toy for the rich. At least, in my opinion.

The way it's talking about is a little something like this

YouTube

I would see systems like this put around in places like parks and public areas controlled by the city/state. They have a lot more money to work with and could have the buying power to make costs much lower per unit. Sprays usually work decently but are annoying and there are studies now showing that DEET is becoming less and less effective as mosquitoes become immune to it.

@Kookapeli, except all you did was basically make fun of the OP and it sounded like you were just trying to make it sound stupid(check the first reply). You were not even talking about anything real anyway while the thread was started over something that is real.

It just doesn't seem feasible to me that's all, having a unit on the side, zapping mosquito's at random using a laser

I believe otherwise. Such a device is already doable if you have enough money. The only problem now is being able to produce them for affordable prices.

it probably is doable, but the thought of random laser beams going of to shoot mosquito's just sounds a little dangerous