8 ms·

Ah yes, the "star wars laser defense mosquito system". It' as impractical then (early 00's origin) as it is now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGkPMZxWPpA&t=2s

by consp 5y ago

Ah yes, the "star wars laser defense mosquito system". It' as impractical then (early 00's origin) as it is now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGkPMZxWPpA&t=2s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGkPMZxWPpA&t=2s (it's Dutch but you get it). Unless you can get mm accuracy and perfect non-foe detection it's useless with the multi-watt lasers generally required.

jacquesm 5y ago
That video is absolutely hilarious, a total spoof on all those tell-sell nonsense videos they would play at night on idle channels of the local cable TV systems.
LeifCarrotson 5y ago
Realistic implementations use a cabinet with a generous intake and force air (and flying insects through into a controlled, confined space. After going around a corner or two, laser exposure issues are limited, and you can be close enough to aim effectively with limited optics.
- picture 5y ago
  Why not just use a mesh screen with a fan? Bugs generally don't fly with a lot of thrust to weight so they get trapped against the screen and die. I think NightHawkInLight has some videos about this on yt, though its definitely not some new idea.
  - drited 5y ago
    Ya I saw this Dan Rojas video linked on HN a while back when the laser mosquito idea came up. He uses an open bottle of carbonated water to attract them to the fan/screen trap https://youtu.be/6BhV-o77RqQ https://youtu.be/6BhV-o77RqQ
    - 41b696ef1113 5y ago
      That is such a beautifully simple idea.
  - coryrc 5y ago
    Only want to kill mosquitoes.
  - blincoln 5y ago
    Or an electrified grid, like the electric flyswatters that are easy to find now. If one wants to shoot them down instead of some reason, why not a laminar flow water nozzle instead of a laser? Seems like that would be way safer.
dannylandau 5y ago
Thanks for posting! Super funny.
coolso 5y ago
Thanks for sharing this, but is a comedy skit from almost two decades ago - or any time period - really a valid method of debunking potential scientific progress made within that same time period? It reminds me of when people post SNL skits as proof of why [insert person inaccurately being made fun of either in a biased or exaggerated manner for the purpose of humor] is Actually A Bad Person. I mean yeah, the technology at face value is hilarious to think about, and goofy, but so are a lot of things that actually work pretty well. I’m curious why you think mm accuracy and non-foe detection would be terribly difficult in 2021. Going off your example, I’m pretty sure a mosquito would appear rather different to any detection system than a human, or in the case of a field, a bee or something like that.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
webmaven 5y ago
> Ah yes, the "star wars laser defense mosquito system". It' as impractical then (early 00's origin) as it is now As far as I'm aware, this idea traces back to David Brin's 1990 novel Earth: https://books.google.com/books?id=IkqAUv84Ho8C&pg=PT399&dq=inauthor:%22David+Brin%22+bee+zapper&hl=en https://books.google.com/books?id=IkqAUv84Ho8C&pg=PT399&dq=i...
TacticalCoder 5y ago
I've been dreaming about that to kill mosquitoes since I was a teenager. Then I wondered: "how to prevent firing the laser into someone's eye?" and my idea was to only shoot laser from 2 meters high and to only ever shoot towards the ceiling, never downwards, while having the ceiling having some kind of paint/material that wouldn't be reflecting the laser too much. Make the paint/material all white to makes mosquito detection easier. And it'd be probabilistic: considering that, at some point, the mosquito is bound to fly at a height higher than 2 meters in your room. And then boom, the laser. A pipe dream but I hate these little fuckers.
- dumbfoundded 5y ago
  We use lasers in lots of consumer products, we don't really have any with exposed lasers. You just can't guarantee that someone doesn't flip a quarter and blind themselves. It's a cool idea but pretty impossible to be safe.
  - feupan 5y ago
    I think the chances of a quarter’s reflection aligning to your eye while the laser is on and pointing at it are pretty damn slim. If that’s still too high, you better eliminate all corners in your kitchen because someone is going to lose an eye. And don’t get me started on forks.
    - bmitc 5y ago
      Lasers are assigned a classification and regulated. You can't just get a lower classification just because. You can severely damage your eye (and more) with a laser, which may not even be visible. If corners and forks were invisible, traveled at the speed of light, propagated over large distances, were regulated, and could affect aircraft, then maybe your analogies would work.
    - true_religion 5y ago
      The laser is designed to shoot small things in the air. If you flip a coin, and the system has a bug that determines the coin is a bug then it'll shoot. Since you're surely planning on caching the coin, you'll look directly at it in flight. Now... you're blind.
endymi0n 5y ago
It is. And if you want to go Khaby Lame all the way on this issue: Just use a fan instead. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14596273/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14596273/
pmontra 5y ago
It can kill anything that gets in my house and flies. All of them are foes. mm accuracy is another matter. Not blinding me is far more important.
stubish 5y ago
But is it practical yet for the much larger moths the article is discussing?

by consp 5y ago

jacquesm 5y ago

That video is absolutely hilarious, a total spoof on all those tell-sell nonsense videos they would play at night on idle channels of the local cable TV systems.

LeifCarrotson 5y ago

Realistic implementations use a cabinet with a generous intake and force air (and flying insects through into a controlled, confined space. After going around a corner or two, laser exposure issues are limited, and you can be close enough to aim effectively with limited optics.

picture 5y ago
Why not just use a mesh screen with a fan? Bugs generally don't fly with a lot of thrust to weight so they get trapped against the screen and die. I think NightHawkInLight has some videos about this on yt, though its definitely not some new idea.
- drited 5y ago
  Ya I saw this Dan Rojas video linked on HN a while back when the laser mosquito idea came up. He uses an open bottle of carbonated water to attract them to the fan/screen trap https://youtu.be/6BhV-o77RqQ https://youtu.be/6BhV-o77RqQ
  - 41b696ef1113 5y ago
    That is such a beautifully simple idea.
- coryrc 5y ago
  Only want to kill mosquitoes.
- blincoln 5y ago
  Or an electrified grid, like the electric flyswatters that are easy to find now. If one wants to shoot them down instead of some reason, why not a laminar flow water nozzle instead of a laser? Seems like that would be way safer.

dannylandau 5y ago

Thanks for posting! Super funny.

coolso 5y ago

Thanks for sharing this, but is a comedy skit from almost two decades ago - or any time period - really a valid method of debunking potential scientific progress made within that same time period? It reminds me of when people post SNL skits as proof of why [insert person inaccurately being made fun of either in a biased or exaggerated manner for the purpose of humor] is Actually A Bad Person. I mean yeah, the technology at face value is hilarious to think about, and goofy, but so are a lot of things that actually work pretty well. I’m curious why you think mm accuracy and non-foe detection would be terribly difficult in 2021. Going off your example, I’m pretty sure a mosquito would appear rather different to any detection system than a human, or in the case of a field, a bee or something like that.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

webmaven 5y ago

> Ah yes, the "star wars laser defense mosquito system". It' as impractical then (early 00's origin) as it is now As far as I'm aware, this idea traces back to David Brin's 1990 novel Earth: https://books.google.com/books?id=IkqAUv84Ho8C&pg=PT399&dq=inauthor:%22David+Brin%22+bee+zapper&hl=en https://books.google.com/books?id=IkqAUv84Ho8C&pg=PT399&dq=i...

TacticalCoder 5y ago

I've been dreaming about that to kill mosquitoes since I was a teenager. Then I wondered: "how to prevent firing the laser into someone's eye?" and my idea was to only shoot laser from 2 meters high and to only ever shoot towards the ceiling, never downwards, while having the ceiling having some kind of paint/material that wouldn't be reflecting the laser too much. Make the paint/material all white to makes mosquito detection easier. And it'd be probabilistic: considering that, at some point, the mosquito is bound to fly at a height higher than 2 meters in your room. And then boom, the laser. A pipe dream but I hate these little fuckers.

dumbfoundded 5y ago
We use lasers in lots of consumer products, we don't really have any with exposed lasers. You just can't guarantee that someone doesn't flip a quarter and blind themselves. It's a cool idea but pretty impossible to be safe.
- feupan 5y ago
  I think the chances of a quarter’s reflection aligning to your eye while the laser is on and pointing at it are pretty damn slim. If that’s still too high, you better eliminate all corners in your kitchen because someone is going to lose an eye. And don’t get me started on forks.
  - bmitc 5y ago
    Lasers are assigned a classification and regulated. You can't just get a lower classification just because. You can severely damage your eye (and more) with a laser, which may not even be visible. If corners and forks were invisible, traveled at the speed of light, propagated over large distances, were regulated, and could affect aircraft, then maybe your analogies would work.
  - true_religion 5y ago
    The laser is designed to shoot small things in the air. If you flip a coin, and the system has a bug that determines the coin is a bug then it'll shoot. Since you're surely planning on caching the coin, you'll look directly at it in flight. Now... you're blind.

endymi0n 5y ago

It is. And if you want to go Khaby Lame all the way on this issue: Just use a fan instead. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14596273/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14596273/

pmontra 5y ago

It can kill anything that gets in my house and flies. All of them are foes. mm accuracy is another matter. Not blinding me is far more important.

stubish 5y ago

But is it practical yet for the much larger moths the article is discussing?