Today on In Case You Missed It: MIT researchers created a kind of pesticide that is much more likely to stick on plant leaves because its additives are made of negatively and positively charged polymers that bond together. This means far less pes...
There are plenty of problems with pesticides -- making bees dumb, anyone? -- but the biggest is probably how much is wasted while it's being sprayed onto crops. Because of how certain leaves naturally repel water, it means that hardly any anti-bug tr...
Ticks are nasty. Actually, I think all bugs are nasty – but ticks are extra disgusting since they suck on your blood. They are also responsible for transmitting many diseases, some fatal. A team of researchers at the Virginia Military Institute have designed a robot that kills these blood suckers. The Tick Rover has been tested and found to be a successful weapon against ticks.
Ticks are attracted to carbon dioxide and can feel vibrations up to 50 feet away. So these traits are used against them. The Tick Rover emits carbon dioxide and creates vibrations to attract the vermin.
For instance, a tube emits carbon dioxide in the yard, so the ticks go to one side of the tube. Along comes the Tick Rover with an attached cloth treated with pesticides. The ticks feel it’s vibrations and jump on the cloth where they die.
Take that ticks!
[via ABC via Damn Geeky]