"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."
Read on in Saturday's Wall Street Journal.
One question, if we can't even get cheap malaria meds to health centers in rural villages, how the heck are we going to get lasers there? And I'm guessing said lasers will also require a small thing called electricity...
2 comments:
that is EXACTLY what i thought when i saw a report on this on tv.
and I hate to think how many millions of dollars went into it...although if they want to donate one, i will gladly try it out :)
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