HI-TECH MOSQUITO TRAPS

What if we could stop diseases before they spread? That’s the goal of Microsoft’s Project Premonition, which hopes to prevent epidemics like the Zika virus from taking countless lives. The idea is to use mosquitoes as the ultimate field biologists. By setting up specialised traps in hot spot areas, mosquitoes will be captured and then studied, analysing what viruses — if any— they are carrying. Ultimately the team hopes to use drones to identify hot spots.

The traps have smart compartments equipped with infrared laser beams. When the flutter of a mosquito’s wing is detected, the compartment automatically shuts its door, trapping the mosquito for later study. An algorithm can then determine the species by scanning the bug, taking into account the time of day and the amount of light available, before the data is then transmitted to researchers. It’s hoped this can be used to spot outbreaks before they spread.

Detect Scans check the blood of the mosquitoes for harmful pathogens and see what animals it has bitten, helping to predict how a disease may spread.

Collect The robotic traps use infrared light to detect the species of mosquito. If it’s one of interest the door shuts and the bug can then be analysed.

Find Autonomous drones are used to find hot spots of mosquitoes in a particular area and then drop traps down to collect them.