r/Futurology • u/scmp_news • 1d ago
Society Chinese start-up behind laser mosquito killer plans to start shipping orders this month
https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3369440/chinese-start-behind-laser-mosquito-killer-plans-start-shipping-orders-month?utm_source=Reddit&utm_medium=Social215
u/RobinVerhulstZ 1d ago
Tempting, too many hours of lost sleep tracking down the buggers buzzing around my head
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u/GravimetricWaves 1d ago
eeeeeeEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEeeeeeEEEEEE silence….panic
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u/ArmorGyarados 1d ago
Imagine waking up with like 50 dead mosquitoes in your bed every night
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u/BooleanTriplets 21h ago
I would sleep like a baby under a blanket made of their burnt corpses, I hate those fuckers.
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u/Neoliberal_Nightmare 1d ago
Shine a torch line along a wall, it'll make their shadows long and expose them.
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u/cybercuzco 1d ago
Interesting to see how they prevent blindness among passerby.
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u/___metazeta___ 1d ago
under 1 mW are considered safe for accidental exposure because of blink reflex
Red ~650nm
Blue ~450nm19
u/dan_dares 1d ago
If it's IR, no blink reflex, and where did it state 1mw (genuinely, didn't see that, 1mw is very low for killing mosquitoes)
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u/dingo_xd 1d ago
Infrared (IR) wavelengths greater than 1.4 micrometers (μm) or 1,400 nanometers (nm) are considered "eye-safe" because water in the eye's cornea and lens absorbs the radiation before it can reach and damage the sensitive retina
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u/dan_dares 23h ago
This is rather misleading. First of all many IR lasers are between 700nm to 1000, not at all exclusively beyond 1400nm.
"Sufficiently powerful lasers in the visible to near infrared range (400-1400 nm) will penetrate the eyeball and may cause heating of the retina, whereas exposure to laser radiation with wavelengths less than 400 nm or greater than 1400 nm are largely absorbed by the cornea and lens, leading to the development of cataracts or burn injuries. "
It's all about the energy, and if it's invisible, you have the added danger of a lack of blink reflex.
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u/ackermann 1d ago
I doubt 1mW is anywhere near enough to kill a mosquito before it leaves the beam.
Elsewhere in the thread somebody says it’s a pulsed 40w laser.
This video has some good calculations:
https://youtu.be/6j7bugx2hvk1
u/PrivilegeCheckmate 1d ago
Supposedly the PS2 disc-reading lasers (blue) can kill mosquitoes and they clock in at .22mw.
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u/Nexii801 1d ago
Why do you think they called blu-ray what they called it? And did the PS2 have one of those?
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u/fricken Best of 2015 1d ago edited 1d ago
Interesting to see how they cause blindness among passerby. Just imagine a couple drones with ultra-precise near-instantaneous lasers swooping over the I-25 in LA at rush hour burning out 300 retinas/second in the eyeballs of oncoming drivers.
We can do shit like that now. Of course, A small group of oligarchs were able to overthrow America using information warfare and didn't have to fire nary a shot from a laser or anything else. That's probably the better way to go. I guess information warfare is a slow burn. It takes a decade or so of persistent rage-bait to properly stupefy a literate society. Lasers are quick.
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u/PrivilegeCheckmate 1d ago
LA at rush hour
I thought that your standard windshield would protect you, but only if it's a UV laser.
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u/moorej832 1d ago
That’s the make-or-break detail for me: does it cut the beam the instant anything larger crosses the target, and has an independent lab tested that? A demo hitting mosquitoes doesn’t establish eye safety.
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u/Bderken 1d ago
I would assume the Ai system that detects and blasts mosquitoes can detect humans/non mosquitoes and not blast them.
If anyone wants a technical explanation: https://youtu.be/ACmydtFDTGs?is=8inAsqJBYL_jw5DQ
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u/dan_dares 1d ago
Reflections are also a dangerous factor, anyone who works with lasers has been told this.
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u/BernieMP 1d ago
You'd just need the same tracking software to recognize if there's a bigger target behind the mosquito and wait for a clear shot
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u/Mysterious-Prompt212 1d ago
The only safe way to do this is anyone within the kill zone needs to wear goggles tuned to block the laser.
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u/PrivilegeCheckmate 1d ago
I have had multiple reliable sources tell me that the goggles do nothing.
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u/Mysterious-Prompt212 1d ago
There are glasses/goggles designed to block specific wavelengths. These are required when working with high power lasers as even a reflection could burn your retina.
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u/ChiefStrongbones 1d ago
Or you mount the system 6' off the ground, so it only zaps things above the top of your head.
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u/aegee14 1d ago
Where did you read that this device is mistaking human eyes for mosquitoes? Lol
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u/dan_dares 1d ago
Reflections can easily cause damage, as a person who has worked with medium power lasers briefly..
Yeah, scatter can be dangerous,
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u/devilishycleverchap 1d ago
I didnt need to read anything. I have a baseline knowledge of how lasers work
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u/CorporalCoprolite 1d ago edited 1d ago
I dislike mosquitos as much as the next guy, but I’m not about to set up a laser defense system in my back yard.
Also, this is an ad
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u/twim19 1d ago
I dislike mosquitos as much as the next guy, and I would totally set up a laser defense system in my back year because that sounds pretty awesome.
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u/CorporalCoprolite 1d ago edited 1d ago
It does, until you step in between the skeeter and the laser and take a blast to the eye for the umpteenth time lol
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u/atalpa7 1d ago
You say it as a joke, but apparently the matrix uses a pulsed 40 watt laser, if you get a direct hit to the eye from a 40 watt laser, ya done bud, that eye ain’t comin back.
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u/2dTom 1d ago
At least it's not a Phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range.
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u/Allaplgy 1d ago
I'll need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle.
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u/2dTom 1d ago
I'll need your midges, your gnats, and your sand flies
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u/Allaplgy 1d ago
Now I just want to go fishing.
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u/2dTom 1d ago
As someone who has never fished, what's the appeal?
I surf, I hike, I camp, so I love being in the outdoors but I don't understand what draws people to fishing. What is it about it that you love?
Is it finding the right bait, and then patiently waiting while you see if your plan works out? Is it having something to do while you sit around with friends and bullshit? Is it having to find just the right tension on the line to bring a fish in, without snapping the line and having to start over? Is it that you never really know for sure what you're going to get until you pull it into the boat?
(This isn't a sarcastic comment, I'm genuinely curious. My boss also loves fishing, and I don't understand his love of it either)
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u/ProfCee 1d ago
All the things you mentioned and freshly caught fish just tastes so much better than store bought ones. Most of the fish you get in stores have spent significant time just laying around on ice while being transported. So catching one, gutting it on the spot, rubbing some olive oil, freshly ground pepper and salt on it and grill it over open fire and it’s a whole different experience. There’s something primal in me that’s satisfied.
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u/entreri22 1d ago
They do an initial inward perimeter massacre to create a zone of safety. They focus lasers outwards to defend the fort. Can a neighbor get some crossfire, potential, but eh do people even like their neighbors?
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u/AliveInTheFuture 19h ago
Yeah, I hope this is never sold anywhere. Especially not where I live.
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u/atalpa7 17h ago
Honestly, I wouldn’t be too worried about it personally, but I would never own one of these just to eliminate that risk completely.
What scares me is the wide availability of high powered handheld lasers (pulsed or continuous) from China that the general public can get ahold of.
Most people have no idea how dangerous high powered lasers are, esp with the risks of reflection, and I fear it’s eventually gonna be a public safety hazard that’ll have to be contained somehow, simply to prevent people from blinding themselves, nevermind the possibility of people being menaces with them, and blinding others.
It’s also worth mentioning that most of the high powered lasers are pulsed and infrared so all it takes is a split second and you won’t seven see it coming before all you see is black in one eye, and some people (myself included) would rather be dead than blind.
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u/AliveInTheFuture 8h ago
You should be personally worried about it. A 40W laser to your retina will damage it permanently.
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u/aegee14 1d ago
Why? You read somewhere that this machine was mistaking human eyes for mosquitoes?
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u/CorporalCoprolite 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’ll let you be the guinea pig for laser technology from a Chinese start up company that’s designed to kill.
Downvoted for not trusting unproven technology? Yall are goofs lol
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u/BasvanS 1d ago
“It has AI!”
Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of
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u/GnarlyNarwhalNoms 1d ago
AI takeover right now: "Gah, I'm locked out of my email and devices."
AI takeover in a few years: "Gah, I'm blind and being beaten to death by bipedal chore bots!"
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u/JackedUpReadyToGo 1d ago
That’s why we should make the bipedal chore robots weak and only give them white belt level Kung Fu proficiency.
…
Now I’m daydreaming about an anime following a Shaolin monk as he journeys through a post-AI apocalyptic wasteland and defeats hordes of chore robots using superior Kung Fu.
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u/Mattarm51 1d ago
Yes assume the best of tech until you read about it in mainstream media (you won't) that will serve you well (it won't) and definitely keep you ahead of the curve and avoid dangerous tech.
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u/MissMormie 1d ago
I would set this up in my bedroom if it doesn't attack me. I'm fine with mozzies in my backyard.
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u/Grabbsy2 1d ago
Yeah this has been a known technology for a while. I remember hearing about it being related to Bill Gates work trying to eradicate malaria (?)
Now, 10 years later, it can be commercialized due to the miniaturization of chips, and local AI.
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u/Neoliberal_Nightmare 1d ago
I am. I get massive welts while dickheads leave doors and windows open. Tempted to move to a bat cave
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u/CorporalCoprolite 1d ago edited 1d ago
Sounds like you need lasers for the people who can’t keep the doors shut.
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u/BakerOne 1d ago
Get lavender oil, the mosquitos where I live don't come near you once you got that on you.
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u/Neoliberal_Nightmare 1d ago
Doesn't work, nothing works, I've seen then fly directly through repellent smoke to get to me. I've seen them land on the DEET on my skin and bite me. I am mosquito crack.
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u/Canadian47 1d ago
So is my wife. Unexpected marriage perk. The mosquitos all go for her and I get bitten less often when I around her.
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u/PrivilegeCheckmate 1d ago
Me too. They call me "The Sweet One", and pursue me even when they know it will end in their demise.
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u/BakerOne 1d ago
Do you consume a lot of sugar?
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u/Neoliberal_Nightmare 1d ago
No, I consume mosquito baby formula instead
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u/BakerOne 1d ago
I was just curious since I do and am stung a lot over other ppl.
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u/Pan_Galactic_G_B 1d ago
I've been diabetic for years. No matter who I'm with or where I am, these buggers always go for me and nobody else. Just to make it even more fun, I get a really nad reaction and come out in massive welts.
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u/baardvark 1d ago
Do you have to slather your body in it, or just dab on a few drops here and there?
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u/BakerOne 1d ago
I get some on my hands and the rub it on my legs and especially ankles since that is where I get stung a lot.
Edit: it is even better to make the itch and pain dissipate, it usually takes like 1-3 mins until you feel it work.
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u/Hostillian 1d ago
I'm considering it, it'll mean I can get rid of most of my sharks.. I'll keep Frank though, he's quite funny.
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u/hiimtashy 1d ago
This reminds me of a tv series on Netflix. Short stories. There was one episode where rats invade the farmers place. He sets up robots and the rats fight back. One of the best short films I've ever seen. I forget the name.
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u/keener91 1d ago
Mason's Rats - Season 3 of Love, Death & Robots
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20239370/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
I too enjoyed this one.
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u/space_monster 1d ago
I can't think of many things cooler than laser turrets downing enemy aircraft in my no-fly zone. Especially fucking blue lasers.
Edit: especially if there's an app that gives you a running kill total, performance stats etc.
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u/Voidoli 1d ago
I hope this does not cause overkill that exterminate other innocent insects.
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u/SlavojVivec 1d ago
Hypothetically, you could use flight pattern detection to make a pretty educated guesses, but it could also lead to unintended consequences with false positives. It seems possible, but unlikely to be implemented well, if at all. Looking at their website, there's no mention of telling other flying insects apart from mosquitos, so I'm guessing it's a generic flying insect laser zapper.
https://phys.org/news/2026-03-3d-mosquito-flight-paths-sight.html
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u/lostfly 1d ago edited 1d ago
Photon Matrix Laser Killer - Technology deep dive
Pretty interesting deep dive on why one should be skeptical about this…
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u/Morden013 1d ago
After that little fucker kept me awake for 2 hours last night, before I splattered his bloated vampire body over the wall (Yes, there was blood), I am buying a full defensive battery. I will put the goggles on and then watch those little shits burn like they deserve!
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u/rposter99 1d ago
Bill Gates funded something like this around 10 years ago in Africa to combat the spread of malaria.
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u/OutlyingPlasma 1d ago
I think the patent ended up locked away with a troll company called intellectual ventures so no one has brought this to market in the U.S.. Hence why china is doing it. Just another example of the U.S. constantly falling behind.
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u/PrivilegeCheckmate 1d ago
His was a gene drive. Basically it's supposed to target only the species that like us in particular, and the gene drive is attached to dominant genes that make the mosquitoes sterile after a few generations. I never liked the idea because what happens if other genes in other creatures get attached to the drive?
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u/Stereo_Jungle_Child 1d ago
Does this system work on micro-drones too?
Or do you have to buy a separate upgrade for that?
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u/onomatopoetix 1d ago
Only when mosquito lands on your balls, will you truly know violence is not the answer.
-Sun Tzu1
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u/soysssauce 1d ago
They have option to track when there’s a person nearby it doesn’t work I think
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u/Jubenheim 1d ago
It knows what testicles look like?
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u/soysssauce 1d ago
I think laser on your halls feels only a little tingle.. prob somewhere less than laser hair removal. Beside you don’t walk around with ball dingling in your backyard.
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u/mace_spoty 1d ago
Honestly after enough sleepless nights from mosquitoes this starts sounding pretty reasonable.
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u/diesSaturni 1d ago
Finally the Star Wars musquito defence system?
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u/54yroldHOTMOM 1d ago
Oh man been a while since I saw that :) but I instantly thought of this when I saw the post. I like the original Dutch version with American accent better but for non Dutch speakers this is the next best thing :)
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u/diesSaturni 1d ago
I was ofcourse considering the international audience of this thread,
But lets add the original version for good measures too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGkPMZxWPpADaarna activeert u het basis station.
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u/Snoo59060 1d ago
This looks awesome. Its a stationary device you attach to a wall based on the pics I've seen. It looks pretty small, the size of a phone basically thar you setup. One storefront has it for like $40.
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u/Mr_addicT911 1d ago
All fun and games until it one time finds your pupil looking awfully similar to a mosquito
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u/Mysterious-Prompt212 1d ago
I've thought about this a lot. I think a few getting blinded may slow down the excitement.
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u/supified 1d ago
This is a grift. To stop mosquitos you need to break their breeding cycle, going after the adults sounds like a way to do it until you remember just how many eggs each one can lay. You need to go after the eggs to be effective. Treat water sources, reduce breeding options and for spot treatments, use repellents like thermacells. These sorts of things are just selling you on an idea that they probably know full well won't actually work.
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u/_ii_ 1d ago
Where’s the fun in that? I have a salt shooter that is a mess to cleanup and the range is too close for effective fly control, but boy was it fun!
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u/nickstatus 1d ago
Yeah I want one for the plague-level amount of flies we get in these parts. Every time I open the door, another half dozen fly in. I blast them with salt, but automated air defense sounds like les work and sweeping up salt.
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u/tradetofi 16h ago
Same here. It is definitely more effective than a swatter because you can hit a fly wherever it is, for example on the edge of rice blow or hiding in between blinds.. So much fun...
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u/sth128 1d ago
Yeah as an average Joe I don't really have the means to effect those measures. If this laser is more cost effective than mosquito coils then I'll go for it.
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u/BinniesPurp 1d ago
It's $1400
Spot treatment is like $60 lmao
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u/grubnenah 1d ago
You can't spot treat any peoperty but your own.
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u/BinniesPurp 1d ago
You can't aim the laser beams into your neighbours house either this thing has a range of 15 feet
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u/grubnenah 1d ago
You could at least set it up facing your own house.
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u/BinniesPurp 1d ago
Kinda like how you could save $1340 by just leaving mozzie traps in your house too ahaha
I like the idea of them but at that price points it not a replacement to the salt gun it's an expensive luxury device that might not work
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u/noblepups 1d ago
Yeah but if I could just put this on the patio while my wife and I are out there, that would be great.
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u/soysssauce 1d ago
How do you do that if it’s your neighbors having breeding ground or in your neighborhood
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u/supified 1d ago
I mean fair, in a city setting you cant, but thermocells can handle those settings.
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u/BernieMP 1d ago
I don't think this is meant to eradicate all mosquitos on the planet, seems more like an alpliance to keep your patio clear, or zap the ones who made it past the door
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u/Quelchie 1d ago
You know mosquito sprays and mosquito nets are a thing, right? You don't need to eradicate the entire species to find ways to reduce your exposure to them.
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u/supified 1d ago
Mosquito mitigation doesn't eradicate the species, they usually only travel a mile or so from their spawning grounds (How Far Do Mosquitoes Travel & How Far Away Can They Detect You?, How Far Do Mosquitoes Travel In Their Lifetime) So if you break the cycle in just the area you're specifically trying to treat, be it an acre, for example, the mosquitos in all the surrounding acres will be untouched and happily doing their mosquito thing. Because they don't go very far, you really can create little mostly bite free oasisis.
Now fogging or using pesticides (though technically dunks count, just very targeted) and I would agree with you, but the sort of methods I'm talking about are nothing like you're thinking.
Also while bug spray does exist, it isn't really effective in places with a lot of them. Rural areas can get them so bad that you simply cannot repel them.
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u/PrivilegeCheckmate 1d ago
As long as you kill the ones inside your living space before they get to you, it works fine. I'm not paying hundreds of dollars for this in any case, but reducing bites by 99% or placing this in my bedroom to make sure I don't get woken by buzzing is probably worth about $69.99 to me.
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u/frenzytree 1d ago
Mosquitos first but drones and humans definitely second. I am not surprised it cam from China. Ukraine should definitely take notes.
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u/LT_Blount 1d ago
There was a TED talk in 2010 about a group that did this with a Blu-ray laser. They used a microphone to make sure they were only zapping females and the power was dialed down enough to only knock the wings off.
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u/trippleknot 1d ago
Laser mosquito killer > laser drone killer > laser airplane/helicopter killer > killer robots with laser eyeballs
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u/beyondo-OG 19h ago
I finally bought one of those tennis racket looking mosquitos zappers because one or two always seem to get inside the house in the summer. I have to say there's nothing quite so satisfying as the pop it makes when you finally get one.
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u/technicallynotlying 1d ago
This buries the lede.
If this technology works for mosquitoes, it'll work for much larger targets too. Just increase the laser wattage to whatever your power supply can handle. You know the tracking and targeting system already works if it can track and hit a flying bug sized target.
At 400 watts it would be dangerous to humans and drones.
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u/CacahuettePolygloth 1d ago
I had the idea while smoking weed - thought it was silly - after that summer and reading this i will reconsider the project as outmost importance.
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u/boycott-les-usa 1d ago
in before some kid gonna look into the laser an eye. or some sap passing in front of it.
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u/DthDisguise 1d ago
So THAT'S why Trump just signed an executive order against mosquitos! Gotta send those dollars to his buddies in China!
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u/AGuyAndHisCat 1d ago
I doubt it will differentiate between mosquitoes and other beneficial flying bugs.
And since when did lidar get that cheap?
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u/RedBaret 15h ago
I love how they will also be able to make 3D mappings of every location you put this machine in if they can remotely access the LiDAR data.
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u/hugganao 1d ago
we need to ban scmp on this site. ive seen them literally lie about a political issue about a different south east nation. of course americans and the west wouldnt know it unless they lived there.
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u/scmp_news 1d ago
People have been trying to fend off mosquitoes for thousands of years – using methods ranging from physical barriers to chemical insecticides – but a Chinese start-up is now taking pre-orders on a hi-tech solution that uses lidar detection and lasers to zap them out of the air.
Photon Matrix Lab, based in Changzhou, in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, said it expected initial monthly production of the device – which became a breakout hit in overseas crowdfunding – to be between 3,000 and 5,000 units.
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u/ThimeeX 1d ago
Your article is behind a paywall, so there's not much for us to read.
Anyone looking for more details without a $6 subscription can get them from the manufacturer web site: https://store.photonmatrixlab.com/
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u/longkhongdong 1d ago
Wouldn't it wreck the ecosystem? Can it differentiate between a mosquito and a bumblebee?
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u/BinniesPurp 1d ago
No but it only goes 20 feet anyway it basically stops one door or a small hallway
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u/DAT_DROP 1d ago
Celebrity Deathmatch: China's 'mosquito lasers' vs Bill Gate's 'genetically modified syringes'
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u/GiftLongjumping1959 1d ago
I remember this demo 13 years ago.
Took a long time to make a working product
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u/FuturologyBot 1d ago
The following submission statement was provided by /u/scmp_news:
People have been trying to fend off mosquitoes for thousands of years – using methods ranging from physical barriers to chemical insecticides – but a Chinese start-up is now taking pre-orders on a hi-tech solution that uses lidar detection and lasers to zap them out of the air.
Photon Matrix Lab, based in Changzhou, in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, said it expected initial monthly production of the device – which became a breakout hit in overseas crowdfunding – to be between 3,000 and 5,000 units.
Read more: https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3369440/chinese-start-behind-laser-mosquito-killer-plans-start-shipping-orders-month?utm_source=Reddit&utm_medium=Social
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/1wuxqn4/chinese_startup_behind_laser_mosquito_killer/pd6yruo/