"...just slay them all"

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Back in the Reagan Era, there was much talk about the Strategic Defense Initiative - the "Star Wars" program. Now the program is back but it's turned its attention from nuclear missiles to mosquitos.

The real target, as before, isn't the carrier itself, but the warhead inside - in this case, malaria. With over a million people dying each year to this virulent virus, big spenders like Bill Gates, the United Nations and the U.K. have donated billions of dollars to fight it.

Dr. Lowell Wood, part of the original "Star Wars" project, suggested enlisting lasers in the fight against the disease. By early 2008, the first mosquito laser fatality was down to the brainchild of Dr. Wood, Dr. Jordin Kare and another ex-"Star Wars" scientist.

"We like to think back then we made some contribution to the ending of the Cold War with the Star Wars program," Dr. Kare said. "Now we're just trying to make a dent in a war that's actually gone on a lot longer and claimed a lot more lives."

The only problem now is calibrating it so that the lasers can turn the buzzing pests into smoking corpses without endangering other wildlife, especially the human variety; according to tests the laser is powerful enough to zap mosquitos while leaving butterflies unharmed.

In a demonstration, the machine itself was so sensitive that it could tell male mosquitos from female mosquitos (from the wingbeat), which is vital as it's only the female mosquito that can pass malaria.

"If you really were a purist, you could only kill the females, not the males," Myhrvold said. But since they're mosquitoes, he says, he'll probably "just slay them all

Source.

[Feck]

A nice example of swords into plowshares ,but a lot of them would be needed ,and they don't sound cheap .

[Gawdzilla Sama]

A nice example of swords into plowshares ,but a lot of them would be needed ,and they don't sound cheap .

Taking out a significant share of the breeding population with each use would be a big plus. Kill the breeders in the populated areas, then locate them on the periphery and have a "barricade" in place. Then mobile units could be deployed as needed. (And they'll get cheaper as demand goes up. Solar powered versions for use in remote areas.)

[Animavore]

So when sea otters and mountain leopards become few we try to save them but, it's alright to wipe out mosquitoes because they're infectious baby killers?

Mr. Gates. How could you? :weep:

[Gawdzilla Sama]

So when sea otters and mountain leopards become few we try to save them but, it's alright to wipe out mosquitoes because they're infectious baby killers?

Mr. Gates. How could you? :weep:

The "Moquito Catchers" will weep for them. As far as I'm concerned, they can all fucking die.

[Animavore]

If anything we should have more mosquitoes and more malaria. The human race needs some serious reduction in numbers. Well not to worry. If it's not mosquitoes that kill the numbers it'll be some other disease or war or famine. Gaia will restore itself.

(disclaimer: the above statement is completely flippant and does not represent my actual views)

[Xamonas Chegwé]

It does make me wonder what the effect on the ecosystem will be if mosquitoes are wiped out.

Billions of the little fuckers are eaten by fish, birds, other insects, spiders, and fuck knows what else every year - much as I despise mozzies, I am quite concerned about upsetting fragile ecosystems. Removing the mosquitoes (or even just significantly reducing their numbers) could lead to the extinction of their predators, their predators' predators, etc.

The ecosystem will stablise again, that is a given, but no-one can predict its new shape and what knock on effects to humanity might occur. As an example, would pollinating insects for vital food-crops be affected?

[CP]

I'm pretty sure the mosquitoes are kind of important to the ecosystem. Although it's kind of amusing to see somebody go "fuck it, the Malaria parasite's too hard to kill -- let's get the buggers who are moving them around."

Wouldn't it be cheaper to donate more mosquito nets and repellent to badly affected countries?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I'm pretty sure the mosquitoes are kind of important to the ecosystem. Although it's kind of amusing to see somebody go "fuck it, the Malaria parasite's too hard to kill -- let's get the buggers who are moving them around."

Wouldn't it be cheaper to donate more mosquito nets and repellent to badly affected countries?

The skeeters are filling a niche. If we kill them off, something else will fill that niche. And it probably won't suck our blood.

[Don't Panic]

If anything we should have more mosquitoes and more malaria. The human race needs some serious reduction in numbers. Well not to worry. If it's not mosquitoes that kill the numbers it'll be some other disease or war or famine. Gaia will restore itself.

(disclaimer: the above statement is completely flippant and does not represent my actual views)

A good war or two will sort that out, no need to resort to disease.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

I'm pretty sure the mosquitoes are kind of important to the ecosystem. Although it's kind of amusing to see somebody go "fuck it, the Malaria parasite's too hard to kill -- let's get the buggers who are moving them around."

Wouldn't it be cheaper to donate more mosquito nets and repellent to badly affected countries?

The skeeters are filling a niche. If we kill them off, something else will fill that niche. And it probably won't suck our blood.

But what about the creatures who have filled the niche of eating skeeters? No species lives in isolation in this world.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I'm pretty sure the mosquitoes are kind of important to the ecosystem. Although it's kind of amusing to see somebody go "fuck it, the Malaria parasite's too hard to kill -- let's get the buggers who are moving them around."

Wouldn't it be cheaper to donate more mosquito nets and repellent to badly affected countries?

The skeeters are filling a niche. If we kill them off, something else will fill that niche. And it probably won't suck our blood.

But what about the creatures who have filled the niche of eating skeeters? No species lives in isolation in this world.

True, but the things that eat the skeeter eat other things. Not many things specialize in eating the little vampires, IIRC.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

Both larval and adult dragonflies feed almost exclusively on mosquitoes. They are an obvious casualty of a rapid decline in mozzy numbers.

I am not saying that the ecosystem will collapse but it will certainly change in unpredictable ways. Removing any species from a food chain is bound to effect the other species in that chain. How is anybody's guess. Wiping out a species from any environment, or adding a new one for that matter, is a risky business.

There are other malaria control plans in an early stage that are less destructive, including genetically modifying the little bastards so that they can no longer host the Plasmodium parasite. They will still bite though!

[CP]

But just think -- if we wipe out malaria, biology teachers all over the world will lose their favourite example of a deleterous recessive with positive effects when heterozygous! Are we willing to make that sacrifice?

Next you'll want to kill those little moths that can have pale or dark wings.

[eXcommunicate]

I don't see how such a system would destroy the entire species. It would be useful over inhabited areas though.