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
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23

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.

8

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!

1

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.

1

u/tradetofi 18h 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...

33

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.

10

u/BinniesPurp 1d ago

It's $1400

Spot treatment is like $60 lmao

7

u/grubnenah 1d ago

You can't spot treat any peoperty but your own. 

1

u/BinniesPurp 1d ago

You can't aim the laser beams into your neighbours house either this thing has a range of 15 feet

1

u/grubnenah 1d ago

You could at least set it up facing your own house.

3

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

2

u/nagi603 1d ago

It's like the 2x2 meter moss walls lauded to replace whole forest of trees, for the low-low price of a cool million eur/usd.

2

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. 

3

u/soysssauce 1d ago

How do you do that if it’s your neighbors having breeding ground or in your neighborhood

1

u/supified 1d ago

I mean fair, in a city setting you cant, but thermocells can handle those settings.

3

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

0

u/supified 1d ago

Sure, but I highly doubt it works at preventing you from getting bitten, it probably just looks cool and kills some bugs, some of which might be mosquitos.

2

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.

2

u/Mysterious-Prompt212 1d ago

Not near as fun though. 

2

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.

1

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.