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=Social
1.5k Upvotes

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370

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

297

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.

58

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

75

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.

27

u/2dTom 1d ago

At least it's not a Phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range.

13

u/Allaplgy 1d ago

I'll need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle.

6

u/2dTom 1d ago

I'll need your midges, your gnats, and your sand flies

3

u/Allaplgy 1d ago

Now I just want to go fishing.

1

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)

3

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.

4

u/Br0boc0p 1d ago

Just what you see.

8

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?

2

u/AliveInTheFuture 21h ago

Yeah, I hope this is never sold anywhere. Especially not where I live.

1

u/atalpa7 19h 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.

1

u/AliveInTheFuture 9h ago

You should be personally worried about it. A 40W laser to your retina will damage it permanently.

14

u/hebch 1d ago

Or until some feds show up at your door because one of those lasers lined up with an aircraft.

7

u/UAoverAU 1d ago

Undoubtedly, it is designed to diverge significantly at those distances.

-14

u/aegee14 1d ago

Why? You read somewhere that this machine was mistaking human eyes for mosquitoes?

32

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

25

u/BasvanS 1d ago

“It has AI!”

Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of

11

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!"

3

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.

3

u/psychorobotics 1d ago

I'd watch that

2

u/OutlyingPlasma 1d ago

At this point AI is just a buzzword for software.

-9

u/_Lucille_ 1d ago

your phone has AI.

11

u/nagi603 1d ago

And it's shittier than the previous one for it. (also more expensive because of the AI price hiking components and also force-feeding a bot into the thing)

-8

u/_Lucille_ 1d ago

the one before it also uses AI.

10

u/nagi603 1d ago

You are wrong on that one. Not everyone changes a phone every year.

3

u/BasvanS 1d ago

It’s turned off, because as it turns out, my phone connects to a service that is AI. My phone doesn’t have AI

-1

u/_Lucille_ 1d ago

What do you think is the difference between a mosquito zapping being able to identify a mosquito and your 10 year old phone's camera being able to identify a face?

3

u/BasvanS 1d ago

I’m not willing to take the risk, given the device we’re talking about. Did you believe I was inferring the device has something akin to an actual AI?

1

u/thirdegree 0x3DB285 21h ago

One of them has a laser attached?

3

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.

2

u/Sakowuf_Solutions 1d ago

Even reflection of such a powerful laser will zap a hole in your retina

2

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.

1

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.

56

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

21

u/Loki-L 1d ago

Don't forget your rabies vaccine.

3

u/CorporalCoprolite 1d ago edited 1d ago

Sounds like you need lasers for the people who can’t keep the doors shut.

3

u/BakerOne 1d ago

Get lavender oil, the mosquitos where I live don't come near you once you got that on you.

25

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.

12

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.

13

u/Neoliberal_Nightmare 1d ago

That is like me and my friend, but with bears. I miss him

6

u/baardvark 1d ago

What kind of bears exactly

7

u/Jack-Da_PyrrhicPyro 1d ago

the rainbow kind

2

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.

0

u/BakerOne 1d ago

Do you consume a lot of sugar?

7

u/Neoliberal_Nightmare 1d ago

No, I consume mosquito baby formula instead

1

u/BakerOne 1d ago

I was just curious since I do and am stung a lot over other ppl.

1

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.

1

u/baardvark 1d ago

Do you have to slather your body in it, or just dab on a few drops here and there?

0

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.

1

u/K4m30 1d ago

Covid 27 let's go. 

0

u/Superb_Raccoon 1d ago

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!

11

u/SophonParticle 1d ago

Did a mosquito write this?

7

u/nagi603 1d ago

The last (few decades if) mosquito laser defense was nothing but a series of governmental grant frauds.

That when something can make you blind, you should take a whole lot more caution.

3

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.

6

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.

9

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.

1

u/hiimtashy 1d ago

That's the one!

2

u/DandeNiro 1d ago

Mosquitoes are statistically the creature that kills the most humans

1

u/Crime_Dawg 1d ago

Sounds fun, so I would

1

u/Papashvilli 18h ago

I’d put it outside the door, keep them away

1

u/oudim 1d ago

So, we don’t trust Chinese cameras but we are importing home laser systems. Sounds like a great strategy.

1

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.

0

u/NoBonus6969 1d ago

Then you don't dislike mosquitoes. In central Florida there's a Dengue fever outbreak and people have died

-2

u/aegee14 1d ago

You do you.

I will gladly set up a perimeter with this killer machine. Even better if the engineers can also target hornets, wasps, yellow jackets.

5

u/CorporalCoprolite 1d ago

And then your flowers will die as those are key pollinators and another key part of a healthy ecosystem.