If you're going to war with mosquitos...

It may as well be overkill.

Now to hack one of these together using BMW laser headlights, a raspberry pi, a dash cam, and some sheet metal from a craigslist washing machine.

That will never shoot down a De Havilland DH98. They fly too high, and too fast.

But they're wood skinned. Just gotta catch them on the approach.

I am waiting to see what happens with Crispr+mosquito

In reply to jere:

Actually that's what I'm interested in seeing more studies on. I read a paper at one point, and I'm coming up short on finding it, that if Aedes aegypti went extinct due to a gene drive tomorrow the ecosystem would hardly notice.

If I get some more time today I'll look for it.

Of course you'll still have to overcome the objections of people who hold an opinion but don't understand how that technology works. Sort of exactly like the anti-vax people. (Okay I'm done I don't need to get buried under a patio.)

I just thought this was fun because a division of my previous employer was responsible developing high energy weapons.

I'm way more ok with extinction of a species through laser than I am of genetic modifications. Crispr is scary because of how they say it can be used on just about any species. It's one thing for a mentally unstable person to decide they hate all people of X religion and decide to kill then with a suicide bomb. What if that same person decided to kill all people with the genetic code of a certain skin color. I firmly believe that humans will be the cause of our own extinction.

Would rather adjust the moquitos DNA so they cannot carry malaria and also so that their bites dont itch.

then bite away little guys.

In fact, I'm surprised they haven't made that genetic mutation yet to evolve bites that don't itch. If your bite doesn't itch, I have much less reason to kill you.

Stampie wrote: ....I firmly believe that humans will be the cause of our own extinction.

Sadly, this sort of "pop science" thinking can have a huge impact on potentially very useful scientific innovation. The basis of the movie Legend was a modified virus gone wrong. Viral therapies have HUGE potential in cancer treatments (deactivating the cancers cloaking and allowing the immune system to attack it). A public backlash in fear of "killing everyone" could bring a stop to that.

The lack of true understanding of MODERN nuclear power plants is a great example of this (poisoned by their past of course).

Robbie wrote: Would rather adjust the moquitos DNA so they cannot carry malaria and also so that their bites dont itch. then bite away little guys. In fact, I'm surprised they haven't made that genetic mutation yet to evolve bites that don't itch. If your bite doesn't itch, I have much less reason to kill you.

I had this thought about poison ivy the other day. The very thing that they evolved to use for their defense - the itchy rash-causing oils they cover themselves with - are the reason why people kill them. Kind of ironic.

Robbie wrote: Would rather adjust the moquitos DNA so they cannot carry malaria and also so that their bites dont itch...

Well, they can carry pretty much any blood borne disease so I am not sure a DNA mod could deal with that.

Killing off all mosquitoes could have some huge unintended consequences. I think they are responsible for a lot of pollination (only the female mosquitoes drink blood to produce eggs, otherwise they feed off of plant nectar).

Well we've gone this far. I pointed to Aedes aegypti specifically because they are invasive and the carrier of Zika, dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever and of course Malaria. They also primarily breed in small pools of standing rain water where fish and amphibians don't eat their larva.

Performing a gene drive on all mosquitoes would be a dangerous proposition since mosquitoes and their larva have a significant role in their ecosystems.

CRISPR holds the promise to develop specifically targeted medical treatments which would otherwise remain theoretical. Additionally it would to allow humanity to make modifications to itself which would otherwise be considered eugenics, which is why I think it appears to be frowned upon. This includes altering specific functions of ourselves which allow us to live longer or better resist and repair deep space radiation which is imperative if we are serious about manned deep space exploration.

Honestly it doesn't really frighten me as much as it seems to other people. Virtually all domestic animals are part of a selective breeding program as well as nearly all our agricultural products. The CRISPR technique simply shortcuts generations of selective breeding. I'd say something about making sure it doesn't have any unintended side effects but selective breeding does that too (looking right at you American Kennel Club.)

It's a double edged sword but moratoriums on these types of technologies don't leave a path forward and cedes control of the technology to other players. The genie is out of the bottle, not recognizing the potential for good is short sighted but casting it as a dogmatic Boogeyman is dangerous.

This thread is geek heaven, I love all this stuff!

The human race has wiped out lots of species Im not sweating the loss of the one mosquito type. But we also have a history of doing stupid things without considering the consequences.

What happens when all the people being killed by mosquito suddenly start overpopulating instead for example. As things are we can produce enough food to feed the world but greed, corrupt government, and distribution prevent that from happening.

There are 20 empty houses for every homeless person in the USA. Big pharma discontinues research to cure cancer because the patent ran out and it's not profitable...

Look at that one (illiterate) guy our republic put in office... We didn't go for a Nobel Laureate we followed money, power, greed.

I want a scaled up version of the photonic fence that is designed for racoons.

I want a photonic fence designed for bush honeysuckle and wild grape vines.

I want one that will obliterate the engine of any vehicle blowing past my house at >100dB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C5vkbtpdN4

jere wrote: ...There are 20 empty houses for every homeless person in the USA. Big pharma discontinues research to cure cancer because the patent ran out and it's not profitable...

I love how you imply simple solutions to very complex problems and yet lament the selection of a person who is famous for doing just that.

BTW - I am not sure how a patent can run out of a drug that has not been developed. Many companies create products that cure hunger and yet they don't give it away either, it's not that hard to understand.

Sky_Render wrote: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C5vkbtpdN4

https://www.youtube.com/embed/0C5vkbtpdN4

dculberson wrote: I want a photonic fence designed for bush honeysuckle and wild grape vines.

How about the Aussie with the cat problem?

My question is what animals eat mosquitoes? Because you're basically catering a nightly buffet of Mosquito Asada in your backyard with such a device.

I am pretty sure bats eat a LOT of mosquitoes.

YUMMMMYYY!!!

i wish i had a war machine for those mosquitos. i can't stand them! the summer has 2 more months but they've already killed me, at least emotionally! I CAN'T stand THEM!!!! gonna be starting to search for hgh reviewer to make myself bigger to KILL THEM!

maschinenbau wrote: My question is what animals eat mosquitoes? Because you're basically catering a nightly buffet of Mosquito Asada in your backyard with such a device.

As Aircooled stated bats. I'm building some bat boxes with my daughter to encourage them to hang around.

I'll probably anchor them to some 12 foot poles around the property with a pin so I can drop them to ensure that wasps don't build nests.

DDT? Runs and hides. I just didn't feel like getting into an argument about species extinctions.