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'Star Wars' Scientists Create Laser Gun to Kill Mosquitoes Anouk Lorie Mon March 16, 2009 LONDON, England -- Scientists in the U.S

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'Star Wars' Scientists Create Laser Gun to Kill Mosquitoes Anouk Lorie Mon March 16, 2009 LONDON, England -- Scientists in the U.S 'Star Wars' Scientists Create Laser Gun To Kill Mosquitoes Anouk Lorie Mon March 16, 2009 LONDON, England -- Scientists in the U.S. are developing a laser gun that could kill millions of mosquitoes in minutes. The laser, which has been dubbed a "weapon of mosquito destruction" fires at mosquitoes once it detects the audio frequency created by the beating of its wings. The laser beam then destroys the mosquito, burning it on the spot. Developed by some of the astrophysicists involved in what was known as the "Star Wars" anti-missile programs during the Cold War, the project is meant to prevent the spread of malaria. Lead scientist on the project, Dr. Jordin Kare, told CNN that the laser would be able to sweep an area and "toast millions of mosquitoes in a few minutes." Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people from the bites of female mosquitoes. It is particularly prevalent in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world and kills an African child every 30 seconds, according to the World Health Organization. There are an estimated 300 million acute cases of malaria each year globally, resulting in more than one million deaths, the WHO reports. Responding to questions about any potential harm the laser could pose to the eco-system, Kare said: "There is no such thing as a good mosquito, there's nothing that feeds exclusively on them. No one would miss mosquitoes," he said. "In any case," he added. "The laser is able to distinguish between mosquitoes that go after people and those that aren't dangerous. What remains to be seen is how precise we can get." He added that other insects would not be affected by the laser's beam. Kare said the lasers could be mounted on lamp post-type poles and put around the circumference of villages, to create a kind of "fence" against mosquitoes. The research was commissioned by Intellectual Ventures, a Washington, U.S.-based company that was founded by Nathan Myhrvold, a former Microsoft Corporation executive. His previous boss, Bill Gates, who funded the research, asked Myhrvold to look into new ways of combating malaria. http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/16/mosquito.laser.weapon/index.html?eref=rss_topstories Star Wars Scientists Use Laser Gun To Kill Mosquitoes In Fight Against Malaria Alastair Jamieson 16 Mar 2009 Scientists who worked the Star Wars anti-missile program in the United States are building a ray-gun than can kill mosquitoes in a bid to tackle the scourge of malaria. Experts behind the 1980s missile shield idea have helped to develop a laser that locks onto and kills airborne insects. It is thought the device, dubbed the 'Weapon of Mosquito Destruction' (WMD), could be used against mosquitoes, which kill almost one million people around the world every year by spreading malaria. The research in Seattle, reported in the Wall Street Journal, has been funded by Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates through his charitable foundation. The WMD laser works by detecting the audio frequency created by the beating of mosquito wings. A computer triggers the laser beam which burns the wings off the mosquito and kills it. Among those working on the research project are astrophysicists Dr Lowell Wood and Dr Jordin Kare who both worked on the original Star Wars plan to shield America from nuclear attack. Dr Kare said: "We like to think back then we made some contribution to the ending of the cold war. Now we're just trying to make a dent in a war that's actually gone on a lot longer and claimed a lot more lives." The laser missile defense system was proposed in the 1980s to knock Soviet missiles from the skies with beams. It was greeted with enthusiasm by President Ronald Reagan but mocked as "Star Wars" by Senator Edward Kennedy and never got off the ground. The idea of using the same mechanism to kill insects was down to Nathan Myhrvold, a former Microsoft executive who now runs an innovation firm call Intellectual Ventures. The firm was tasked by Mr Gates with exploring new ways of combating malaria and Dr. Wood suggested using lasers. Work on the WMD began last year. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/4995428/Star-Wars-scientists-use-laser-gun-to-kill-mosquitoes-in-fight-against-malaria.html Scientists Build Anti-Mosquito Laser Lisa Zyga March 16th, 2009 A laser that kills mosquitoes could help reduce the spread of malaria. (PhysOrg.com) -- In an effort to prevent the spread of malaria, scientists have built a laser that shoots and kills mosquitoes. Malaria, which is caused by a parasite and transmitted by mosquitoes, kills about 1 million people every year. The anti-mosquito laser was originally introduced by astrophysicist Lowell Wood in the early 1980s, but the idea never took off. More recently, former Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold revived the laser idea when Bill Gates asked him to explore new ways of combating malaria. Now, astrophysicist Jordin Kare from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Wood, Myhrvold, and other experts have developed a handheld laser that can locate individual mosquitoes and kill them one by one. The developers hope that the technology might be used to create a laser barrier around a house or village that could kill or blind the insects. Alternatively, flying drones equipped with anti-mosquito lasers could track the insects with radar and then sweep the sky with the laser. The researchers are tuning the strength of the laser so that it kills mosquitoes without harming other insects or, especially, people. The system can even distinguish between males and females by the frequency of their wing movements, which may be important since only females spread the parasite. In experiments, the system could target mosquitoes with a flashlight, and then uses a zoom lens to feed the data to the computer, which fires at the insect. Each time the laser strikes a mosquito, the computer makes a gunshot sound. When the mosquito is hit, it bursts into flame and falls to the ground, and a thin plume of smoke rises. The anti-mosquito laser is just one of many novel ways to kill the disease-carrying insects, in addition to the conventional strategy of vaccinating humans. Other ideas include devices that disrupt the mosquitoes' senses of sight, smell, and heat; feeding them poisoned blood; infecting them with a genetically altered bacterium; and creating a malaria-free mutant to overtake the natural mosquitoes. http://www.physorg.com/news156423566.html Mosquito laser gun offers new hope on malaria Tony Allen March 15, 2009 AMERICAN scientists are making a ray gun to kill mosquitoes. Using technology developed under the Star Wars anti-missile program, the zapper is being built in Seattle where astrophysicists have created a laser that locks onto airborne insects. Scientists have speculated for years that lasers might be used against mosquitoes, which kill nearly 1m people a year through malaria. The laser – dubbed a weapon of mosquito destruction (WMD) – has been designed with the help of Lowell Wood, one of the astrophysicists who worked on the original Star Wars plan to shield America from nuclear attack. “We like to think back then we made some contribution to the ending of the cold war,” Dr Jordin Kare, another astrophysicist, told The Wall Street Journal. “Now we’re just trying to make a dent in a war that’s claimed a lot more lives.” The WMD laser works by detecting the audio frequency created by the beating of mosquito wings. A computer triggers the laser beam, the mosquito’s wings are burnt off and its smoking carcass falls to the ground. The research is backed by Bill Gates, the Microsoft billionaire. It is speculated that lasers could shield villages or be fired at swarming insects from patrolling drone aircraft. “You could kill billions of mosquitoes a night,” said one expert. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article5908535.ece .
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