I am pretty sure that there will be people who disagree, but mosquitoes are by far the most irritating insects around. Of course this is the opinion of a person who has to only deal with the itchiness for a few days and then forget about the unpleasant experience. But many are not so lucky.
A recent infographic posted by Bill Gates on his blog showed that the single most-dangerous animal on Earth is in fact the mosquito, taking the lives of 725,000 per year, which is almost double of the kills by humans. Many of you are most probably aware of the anti-malaria research that Bill and Melinda Gates have been supporting for years now, but I presume not so many have seen practical solutions. Well, here is one. A solar powered device that prevents mosquitoes from proliferating. Here are the details.
The creator is Pranav Agarwal, the guy, who needed only $10 in order to develop the miracle device, called Solar Scare Mosquito. The invention does exactly what it says on the box, it scares mosquitoes. More precisely, it is designed so that it could float on the surface of stagnant water, and once in a while it disrupts it by creating little ripples. This ultimately stops mosquitoes from laying eggs, and also kills off the larvae.
Solar Scare Mosquito operates in a radius of 2 meters. It is equipped with an air pump, a solar charger and a bubble aerator. Initial test on small ponds showed that the device is able to kill literally all mosquitoes in the area in a space of a week. Yes, it is a small step. Although the device is extremely cost effective, it can only reduce the population of the insects at pools, and not at numerous temporary bodies of water, such as ditches and footprints. But it is a start. And it is a good one. Here is a small video demonstration and this is a link to the instructables tutorial, where you can make one of these babies yourself.
Image (c) Solar Scare Mosquito
