Just in time for the summer bug season comes this news about a patch you may one day wear to shield your identity – from mosquitoes! The Kite Patch was developed by Olfactor Laboratories, and works like DEET — blocking mosquitoes’ carbon dioxide receptors. Researchers say the chemicals used are so safe they are considered “food grade flavors” by the Food and Drug Administration.
Mosquito defense may have a new secret weapon.It looks like a nicotine patch, but the little diamond-shaped Kite Patch is laced with a very special sauce that its developers claim can protect whomever wears it from mosquito bites for up to 48 hours.
For many, mosquitoes are merely annoying, but in many parts of the world they spread malaria, a deadly disease that is far more dangerous than many health authorities had previously guessed.
The average mosquito has long-range sensors that can sense the carbon dioxide humans emit through their breath from up to a half-mile away. The mosquito’s sensing organ, the maxillary palp, contains a neuron called the cpA neuron that pings the mosquito’s brain when it senses CO2.
The active ingredient and most effective commercially available mosquito repellent is DEET, which works by confusing these
Via Olfactor Laboratory
sensors. But some research suggests it can be toxic, especially to children. It is also a bit too expensive for everyday use, especially in the poorer countries stricken with mosquito-borne diseases. Oh yeah, and it melts plastic. Yikes.
“The Internet is supposed to be all about freedom and choice—yet here comes Steve Jobs with an Internet that is a completely closed system. Apple not only sells you the device, but also operates the only store on the planet that sells software for it.” —Newsweek For all its coolness, the iPad is making for…
Can Web surfing unite with channel surfing on televisions? Google thinks so, and it is partnering with Sony, Intel and Logitech to explore what it calls a “smart” TV. Imagine speaking into a remote and seeing your page or show pop up onto your screen! The vision is to turn televisions into computer monitors for…
The most innovative wheelchairs being developed today are soon going to help the disabled get where they need to go in a new and exciting way: Thought control. Imagine a wheelchair that can be directed by brain signals detected from a unique cap worn by the user. THis is the work of scientists at the…
Perkins contributed an excerpt titled, “Future of Innovation… Personal Passion and Strategic Collaboration” in The Future of Innovation, edited by Bettina von Stamm and Anna Trifilova. Read her contribution here.
In our ongoing work on analyzing the intellectual property landscape in biofuels, one interesting company we’ve encountered is Amyris, an integrated renewable products company. Amyris was founded in 2003 by Kinkead Reiling, Neil Renninger, and Jack D. Newman who met at Berkeley. The company is now located in Emeryville, California. With a grant from the…
The oil spill disaster off the Gulf Coast is truly tragic. The numbers–from the billions of dollars in damage to the environmental toll–are barely fathomable to most of us. Here is a look at a chart that ties the disaster together with amazing clarity. Another site is hosting some incredible photographs of the disaster including…
