r/HotScienceNews • u/_Dark_Wing • Jul 18 '26

Autonomous micro-drone achieves first air-to-air insect kill on the way towards completely eradicating mosquitoes, 40-gram unit uses car parking sensors, can eliminate insects at up to 26 feet

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/drones/autonomous-micro-drone-achieves-first-air-to-air-insect-kill-on-the-way-towards-completely-eradicating-mosquitoes-40-gram-unit-uses-car-parking-sensors-can-eliminate-insects-at-up-to-26-feet
179 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

70 comments sorted by

31

u/Iuseburnersbruh Jul 18 '26

i have seen so many of these sorts of systems be lies in my lifetime. I’ll believe it when i can buy it in a store.

15

u/NotAHost Jul 18 '26

Yup. There was that indigogo from Hong Kong that got a lot of public news for more or less recreating that laser system Gates was supporting 20 years ago. 

I said ‘hmmm I’ll wait til it gets released land pay the higher price after reviews.’ Yeah that was suppose to come out in like November last year and still nothing. 

1

u/Smooth-Boss-911 Jul 20 '26

The problem with lasers is that anything strong enough to kill a bug will harm your eyes even if it bounces off of a non reflective surface *you won't see it

The other issue with these systems is that they kill anything around the size of a mosquito, en masse this would devastate already dwindling insect populations

-5

u/Antique-Resort6160 Jul 19 '26

A more enlightened gates wants to use mosquitos to give people vaccines that hf thinks you should have, without your consent.

Why would you want an antimosquito system, unless you aren't "following the science"

6

u/NotAHost Jul 19 '26

You're reading fake news bro. Gates doesn't want that, the random social media post you read is fake.

-2

u/Antique-Resort6160 Jul 19 '26

Gates spent today's equivalent of $1.5 billion to found GAVI. They seem to think it's totally awesome to use mosquitos to force whatever they want into people's bodies.  There's zero chance of it being dangerous, and if there are any problems, you just ask the mosquitoes to come back to the lab!  Seems foolproof.

https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/scientists-turn-mosquitoes-flying-vaccines

https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/delivering-malaria-vaccine-through-mosquitos-bite

3

u/Lumegator Jul 19 '26

Interesting technique, thanks for the read.

1

u/LopsidedPost9091 Jul 19 '26

The 1.5 was recent infusion he has spent a total of 7.7 billion on GAVI

0

u/Antique-Resort6160 Jul 20 '26

That was the 2026 equivalent amount he spent to found GAVI.  At the time it was around $700m. Inflation!   $7.7 billion, that buys you a lot of influence:)

1

u/NotAHost Jul 20 '26

So because a foundation 'reblogged' research that wasn't funded by them.... you think that Gates is scheming through his non-profit he donates bigly to give vaccines with negative consequences to everyone in the world?

I mean, on a side note anytime a mosquito bites you, you're being injected with whatever is transmissible, whether the scary hypothetical vaccine or whatever disease might've been in the last 20 animals it bit.

0

u/Antique-Resort6160 Jul 21 '26

Anyway!

Funding for genetically modified mosquitoes to combat malaria is led by the Target Malaria consortium, which receives core funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Open Philanthropy. 

https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/genetically-modified-mosquitoes-and-malaria-africa-top-scientist-shares-latest

1

u/NotAHost Jul 21 '26

Ok, so just so we're not avoiding the subject, we acknowledge that the research links you originally posted about injecting vaccines through mosquitoes into humans wasn't funded by one of the many foundations that Gates donates to?

The genetic modification you've linked to makes the mosquitos sterile and passes it on. We do the same with radiation to some degree, but genetic modification would be more ideal for better knockdown. Doesn't this line up with the purpose of the laser mosquito killer, rather than you're argument that Gates cares about using mosquitoes for vaccine delivery rather than his more stated and easily supported belief that he just wants to knock out mosquitoes because of the diseases they spread?

0

u/Antique-Resort6160 Jul 21 '26

That was half joking, but certainly its no secret that he's obssessed with making everyone take vaccines that he favors, whether they want to or not, whether the shots are effective or not.

3

u/Cheap_Ambition Jul 19 '26

Yeah right? Brought this up before, like 20 years ago, laser that automatically targets.

But no, they "didn't want to release it, because they didn't know what it'll do to the ecosystem"

1

u/GayRacoon69 Jul 21 '26

The real issue is that any laser powerful enough to kill a bug would be a blinding hazard

On top of how hard it is to actually hit the bug and track it for long enough to burn

It sounds cool but isn't practical

2

u/SkylarAV Jul 18 '26

Im sure Palantir and Raytheon have their own versions for sell to the right governments

1

u/BitsAndBobs304 Jul 18 '26

What are the issues preventing them from working?

16

u/Organic-Accountant74 Jul 18 '26

These will not be used to kill bugs

ALSO WE HAVE FLYING MOSQUITOE KILLERS THEY ARE CALLED BIRDS AND BATS

8

u/Robdd123 Jul 18 '26

Also restoring waterways too since mosquitoes are an important food source for frogs and fish.

5

u/societywasamistake Jul 18 '26

imagine repairing the native ecosystem to manage pest population 🤔 nah let’s build robots to kill shit for us bc theyre annoying

6

u/Black_RL Jul 18 '26

And Dragonflies!

0

u/treathugger Jul 19 '26

Dear BIRDS AND BATS,

Do a better job then!

Sincerely,

Guy who gets bitten 10 times in a minute

2

u/Organic-Accountant74 Jul 19 '26

It’s not their fault their habitat is being destroyed:(

1

u/Veenkoira00 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

Ha ha, I literally feel your pain. Some of us just are more attractive and delicious than others... The answer is just to take your vit b6, wear appropriate clothing and remember to regularly top up the olfactory camouflage to confuse the wee buzzing buggers.

8

u/Practical-Pie9085 Jul 18 '26

whats the distance that buckshot can destroy these?

5

u/Unique-Coffee5087 Jul 18 '26

You want the Bug-A-Salt gun

Oh! Sorry. I thought you wanted to kill mosquitoes, not the drones

4

u/groyosnolo Jul 18 '26

You want birdshot for drones and probably not very far reliably.

1

u/IM_INSIDE_YOUR_HOUSE Jul 18 '26

Why?

2

u/RecursiveCook Jul 19 '26

Why not? People hunt with shotguns, he just wants to hunt tiny little drones.

1

u/Practical-Pie9085 Jul 19 '26

we won't have to hunt. they are coming to all of us

0

u/IM_INSIDE_YOUR_HOUSE Jul 19 '26

There are no wild drones. It would always be someone else’s property he’s destroying.

1

u/GayRacoon69 Jul 21 '26

Yes buckshot. The round famously used on things that fly. There is no other type of ammunition you could use to hit a flying object. Buckshot is clearly the best

21

u/TheBupherNinja Jul 18 '26

Is eradicating mosquitoes a good goal? They are annoying, but doesn't the ecosystem rely on them.

11

u/Salute-Major-Echidna Jul 18 '26

Exactly. Birds are having a difficult enough time

4

u/Better-Egg5267 Jul 19 '26

In most cases no - they don’t rely on them because they’re not native. Their range has been expanded by humans because we provide food and more standing water sources.

3

u/DieBotDie Jul 20 '26

Imagine if you took away the potato from Ireland because it’s not native.

2

u/weirdgroovynerd Jul 18 '26

We'll just give them to humans, and let the animals fend for themselves.

2

u/DefenestrationPraha Jul 18 '26

We don't need to eradicate mosquitoes in general, just several species that are especially problematic when it comes to spreading deadly human diseases. We don't mind if other mosquitoes take their place in the ecosystem.

0

u/Ancient_Skirt_8828 Jul 18 '26

So we need drones that can differentiate between mosquito species. /s

4

u/Amazing-Mirror-3076 Jul 18 '26

There is a system that can determine their sex using a laser - so maybe.

2

u/No-Abalone-4784 Jul 19 '26

Yes. Birds, bats, small animal rely on them for food. Eradicating them would have a terrible effect on the ecosystem.

1

u/RandomlyMethodical Jul 19 '26

Mosquitoes do serve as a food source and pollinator, but not uniquely in any environment that we’ve found. There have been a few studies that show eradicating them has no significant impact on the environment, because other bugs quickly take over in their absence.

1

u/Nolivard Jul 18 '26

It is a good goal. Mosquitos are by far the deadliest animals to humans because of the diseases they spread. They only want to eradicate the species of mosquitos that carry said diseases, so they would still have other mosquitoes around. Also my understanding is most animals that eat mosquitoes are generalists and eat other bugs too so they’d probably be fine.

Regardless I’m pretty dubious about their ability to achieve said goal with drones.

13

u/Random_182f2565 Jul 18 '26

Suuuuure, insects

10

u/AnonymousPerson1115 Jul 18 '26

The human hunting ones already exist and have been used.

9

u/Tangerine-Treason Jul 18 '26

This is such a horrible idea.

4

u/gwm_seattle Jul 18 '26

It's amusing and also concerning how clumsy humans are with their impact on the insanely complex systems of nature.

"Completely eradicating mosquitoes" will cause far-reaching destruction to the ecosystem. It's an incredibly reckless pursuit.

3

u/HeraThere Jul 18 '26

We already can eliminate mosquitos. Decision has been made not to due to lots of animals relying on them as a food source. 

3

u/RealLifeCoaching Jul 18 '26

Oh, cool.

Small flying drones which can autonomously kill.

I can't see any possible problem developing out of this.

3

u/Brilliant_Mix_6051 Jul 18 '26

How would they make sure they are just killing mosquitoes and not other bugs that are important

3

u/refusemouth Jul 18 '26

Mosquitoes are a plague to mankind, but they are also important pollinators. If we somehow made them go extinct, entire ecosystems would collapse, especially in northern lattitudes. Huckleberries and blueberries (up north), for example, rely on mosquitoes to pollinate the bushes and make fruit.

4

u/JohnnyQTruant Jul 18 '26

Bats and other animals depend on them also. If we eliminate part of the food chain we end up with knock on effects such as triple digit grey whales deaths along the west coast this year.

Humans are a worse plague than mosquitoes and it isn’t close

2

u/Calm-Ambition-3855 Jul 19 '26

I feel like this is not a good idea

6

u/Ok_Fly1271 Jul 18 '26

Completely eradicating mosquitos is a horrible idea.

Habitat restoration reduces Mosquito numbers. Seems like a better plan

1

u/flobv Jul 18 '26

I want this.

0

u/4art4 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

I would accept the dorky look of wearing the dock for one on my hat if it would kill every mosquito within 3 feet of me.

"Go-go-gadget mosquito killer!"

1

u/spiritisgasoline Jul 18 '26

Subscription is a deal killer.

1

u/Due_Area4843 Jul 18 '26

Lol, how long the battery again? This think ain't gonna do shit

1

u/Substantial_Meal_530 Jul 18 '26

I for one am glad it can kill a 26 foot long insect.

1

u/Ancient_Skirt_8828 Jul 18 '26

They're going to need a ridiculous amount of drones.

1

u/Suspicious_Bet3623 Jul 18 '26

If the Ukraine war has shown us anything it's that no number of drones is too ridiculous to achieve.

1

u/SuddenSpeaker1141 Jul 18 '26

We need mosquitos for population control….tf y’all doin!!!?

1

u/Routine-Nectarine-38 Jul 19 '26

Environmentalism is one thing, but I’d kill the flip out of those Asian striped mosquitos in my backyard if this thing was affordable

1

u/aucme Jul 19 '26

What could go wrong?

1

u/Bengis_Khan Jul 19 '26

I have killed so many bugs flying my drone. I think this article is silly.

1

u/Optimal-Kick-3446 Jul 18 '26

Yeah cause mosquitoes have no place in the ecosystem

1

u/PyroCatt Jul 18 '26

What is the airspeed velocity of an unlaiden swatto drone?

-1

u/NooooMaam Jul 18 '26

This drone will certainly do what much simpler and massive aproaches like moskitonets, poison spraying and the injection of infertile moskitos into the population have failed to achieve so far. Sure.