I've always longed for such a system

Predicted in this infomercial parody
http://www.videosift.com/video/Starwars-Mosquito-Laser-Defense-System

*wings

Adding video to channels (Wings) - requested by kulpims.

AMERIKA ! FUCK YEA !!!

So satisfying... Where can I get one of those?

> So satisfying... Where can I get one of those?

OMG we got millions of them every Summer, take all you want

Awww.. I was hoping there'd be explosions

Intellectual Ventures, the makers of this video, are a group of humankind's greatest badasses solving the world's problems while we sleep.

Malcolm Gladwell wrote a fascinating article about them, "In the Air: Who says big ideas are rare?"

There may be hope for quelling the rampant spread of malaria in Africa yet... with a laser that can shoot mosquitoes out of the f-ing sky! </sarcasm>

LAZURS! PEW! PEW!


Seriously though, I can see a major problem with the system. A lot of people don't have room for the pool of sharks required for the platform.

That's craziness. The next thing you'll be telling me is we can teleport terrorists into solid rock!

First time I've experienced empathy for a mosquito.

Snuuuff!

just wait until this thing is anti-infantry... three or four lasers on top of the hill popping holes in 2 people per second

So the mosquito loses its wings, big deal, now we've gotta watch our feet for the little critters and they won't even make a buzzing whining sound as they approach.

>> ^ryanbennitt:
So the mosquito loses its wings, big deal, now we've gotta watch our feet for the little critters and they won't even make a buzzing whining sound as they approach.


+ they'll be really fucking pissed at whoever burned their shit...

I'd like to see a remix showing a laser taking this dude out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cs4oaGUx5c&feature=player_embedded#t=52s

Mosquito Armor DLC - $5

How does this thing distinguish a mosquito from a desirable insect like a bee or a ladybug?

Not only can it distinguish a mosquito from a bee, but it can supposedly distinguish a male mosquito (which doesn't bite) from a female. There's a whole chapter about the company behind this invention in Superfreakonomics.

I'm a desirable insect... ladies.

probably doesn't have much of a range though, so it's more of a replacement for mosquito nets than for DDT... *sigh*... if only a safe version of DDT existed, malaria would be gone in a jiffy.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'Mosquito, Shhot, Laser, Nathan Myhrvold' to 'Mosquito, Shot, Shoot, Down, Laser, Anti Aircraft, Nathan Myhrvold' - edited by calvados

That was fucking fantastic. All the more since I grew up in a place with one of North America's worst mosquito populations.