I love lasers and all but isn't it a bit of an overkill?
When they built the panama canal they had the same problem so they just put lime into any large lakes to kill the larvae and destroyed the vegetation where the mosquitoes where hiding.
After so many years it's still the only place in latin america where there are no mosquitoes at all!
@bpapa9013: really? that pegged my retard meter too, especially since he suggested an extremely environmentally-unfriendly solution: kill everything with chemicals, let the environment sort it out. Did this guy get us to use DDT too?!
@Je_suis_un_revolutionnaire: He's not doubting in the earlY 1900's, that they eliminated mosquitoes. But to say that the panama canal is the only place where there are "NO" mosquitoes, is a little far fetched. I can believe that there are a reduced amount due to possible wind conditions as well as the water being in constant motion and also large lakes w/ample wildlife to eat larve, but not the almost lack of.
And you're right about them lasers. Darn light is very eco-unfriendly. :)
@xanderbeedle: no way.. by genetically engineering a mosquito that doesn't transmit malaria, that leaves it open to transmit something worse. or better yet.. be MORE annoying. one thing i Do know is: when you take something out of the food chain it will be replaced.. adjusting the food chain all the way up to the top. nothing goood can come if this. nothing.
@xanderbeedle: Actually scientists have been working on just that for decades.
IIRC they have been struggling for funding basically since the inception of the research so they haven't gotten very far, so far as I last heard anyway.
@zweihander: The best thing I have heard is breeding a strain that has a shorter lifespan than the incubation period of a disease. So you wouldn't eliminate them, but they couldn't transmit disease as easily.
@Dylorian: most of the ecological consumption of mosquitoes takes place very close to where they hatch (standing water, wetlands, lakes, etc.). So as long as you aren't trying to eradicate them from that sort of environment you shouldn't be hindering the food chain too much.
This is a really off-topic question, but where has the settings page gone? I believed there was a button called settings somewhere i just cant find it!
When you click "profile" in the right upper corner you just see the profile like anyone else would have seen it, no settings etc.
Cool shit... I hate mosquitoes! Not because of malaria(cause there ain't one where I live) but because they are SOOO annoying!!! Especially if they start to fly around your head while you try to sleep! That sound... *shivers*
@Edgars Nemše: Shit, I want one of these and malaria isn't a problem where I live either.
I know there are mosquito "traps" that use a small propane fire to attract mosquitos (the fire mimicks the body heat and CO2 emissions of a med/lg mammal) if they paired this with that propane lure you could literally wipe out the entire breeding population within an acre or so of the trap...
somehow, i suspect the impact on frogs, snakes, mammals and the rest of the food chain arent getting the full consideration they should, but that shouldnt get in the way of shooting mosquitoes with lasers, right?
@Elliot Carvalho: I think that if they can make the targeting system confirm the size of the target with any accuracy (and certianty) then that should not be too much of a problem (except for other very small flying insects). And it sounds like the targeting system is pretty smart if it can determine the sex of the mosquito...
03/14/09
When they built the panama canal they had the same problem so they just put lime into any large lakes to kill the larvae and destroyed the vegetation where the mosquitoes where hiding.
After so many years it's still the only place in latin america where there are no mosquitoes at all!
03/14/09
03/14/09
Did this guy get us to use DDT too?!
03/14/09
Hey cos zapping things with lasers is an eco-friendly solution...
@bpapa9013:
I read the stuff while reading about John Frank Stevens a while back.
There is a short note about panama canal building in wiki... look at "later efforts"
[en.wikipedia.org]
Oh yeah and DDT doesn't work on Mosquitoes anymore... They are now immune. Not that I would use it of course.
03/14/09
And you're right about them lasers. Darn light is very eco-unfriendly. :)
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IIRC they have been struggling for funding basically since the inception of the research so they haven't gotten very far, so far as I last heard anyway.
03/14/09
03/14/09
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03/14/09
When you click "profile" in the right upper corner you just see the profile like anyone else would have seen it, no settings etc.
03/14/09
03/14/09
I think I saw something to that effect in Jurassic Park.
03/15/09
"You're implying that a group composed entirely of females will...breed?"
03/15/09
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03/14/09
03/14/09
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03/14/09
I know there are mosquito "traps" that use a small propane fire to attract mosquitos (the fire mimicks the body heat and CO2 emissions of a med/lg mammal) if they paired this with that propane lure you could literally wipe out the entire breeding population within an acre or so of the trap...
03/14/09
somehow, i suspect the impact on frogs, snakes, mammals and the rest of the food chain arent getting the full consideration they should, but that shouldnt get in the way of shooting mosquitoes with lasers, right?
03/14/09
03/14/09
03/14/09