Hasta La Gadget!

Malaria is a huge problem worldwide, so it’s no surprise to anyone that plenty of people spend lots of time trying to think of ways to rid the world of mosquitoes, prime movers of the disease. Nathan Myhrvold’s company Intellectual Ventures Labs (and former chief technology officer at Microsoft) is focusing on just that. Using widely available and common electronics parts, Intellectual Ventures has made lasers which can kill mosquitoes mid-flight — at a rate of about 50 to 100 per second. Myhrvold first publicly demonstrated this laser (which is made of parts of printers, digital cameras, and projectors) at the TED conference the other day, using hundreds of mosquitoes in a clear glass case to make his point. The laser’s software determines the size and shape of the target before deciding whether or not to shoot, so, for instance — it wouldn’t take aim at a person or a bumblebee. The lasers could be used to protect hospitals and clinics in areas with high mosquito populations and in areas with a high rate of malaria infestation. Now, this is surprisingly not the first time we’ve seen such a trick — though it is the first time we’ve seen video evidence of it working. There are some insanely informative (and murderous) videos at the source link. Be sure to check them out.

Update: Video is after the break.

Continue reading TED Talks mischief: lasers killing mosquitoes by the hundreds

TED Talks mischief: lasers killing mosquitoes by the hundreds originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Feb 2010 09:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You’re looking at a mosquito who got taken down mid-flight by a “Death Star” laser gun designed by Nathan Myhrvold. The malaria-carrying pest never saw it coming, but you can watch everything happen over and over again in this video.

The idea behind the “Death Star” laser is that it could be used to control mosquito populations in developing countries in hopes of reducing the number of deaths due to malaria, a disease frequently carried by the flying insects. The device was shown off during the TED 2010 conference and does in fact appear to be capable of tracking and killing mosquitoes. Oh, and it was built out of parts found on eBay. [Wired]

Bandwidth scarcity, is there any more pressing global issue that we’re faced with today? We think not. Given the exponential growth in both computing power and software’s exploitation and expectation of greater resources, it’s no surprise that at some point we’ll have to look beyond simple electrical currents as the transporters of our data. One bold step taken in that direction has been the demonstration of an operational germanium-on-silicon laser by researchers at MIT. By tweaking the electron count in germanium atoms with the help of some added phosphorous, they’ve been able to coax them into a photon-emitting state of being — something nobody thought possible with indirect bandgap semiconductors. Perhaps the best part of this is that germanium can be integrated relatively easily into current manufacturing processes, meaning that light-based internal communication within our computers is now at least a tiny bit closer to becoming a reality.

Germanium lasers offer ray of hope for optical computing originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 07:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When you think of the laser these days, you’re most likely imagining a giant beam that can scorch a few buildings within seconds. Putting your evil thoughts aside, why not think smaller yet more powerful, and something that may change the future of mankind for good? We’re talking about the National Ignition Facility that has recently produced the world’s first megajoule laser, which only lasted for a few nanoseconds but is still a milestone for nuclear fusion development (read: clean energy on a massive scale). In a nutshell, this laser should be able to produce sufficient X-rays in order to fuse hydrogen nuclei, and it also has financial and efficiency advantage over other systems by having an exposed reactor core instead of one shielded by a huge magnet. That said, until the NIF tries the laser on fuel capsules this summer, we can only be hopeful.

[Original photo from 2funnycats]

One megajoule laser brings nuclear fusion power closer to reality originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 12:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You didn’t think CES was over, did you? Saving a true gamer’s delight for last, we went along to meet with Microvision’s reps today and were introduced to its PicoP laser projector and gun gaming peripheral. The projection tech employed here is unique, as each pixel (848 x 480 resolution) is itself an RGB laser reflecting off a mirror which flips 60 times a second. What that results in is a permanently focused projection, no matter how much you wiggle, jiggle or maneuver the projector. The whole thing fits within 6cc and was designed to be embedded into phones. We snapped a few pics of the standalone projector and then moved on to the rifle gaming controller. Come along after the break to check out our hell-raising skills on video, as well as some more in-depth impressions of the hardware.

Continue reading Microvision laser projection gun hands-on

Microvision laser projection gun hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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