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.
Aside from being a taxing week in the U.S., mid-April is also when BusinessWeek Magazine publishes its top 50 list of the most innovative companies all over the world. This year’s rankings are definitely pointing to a trend I’ve talked about before: That a majority of companies recognized as top innovators are based outside the…
Imagine a car that has a negative carbon footprint. In China, a new concept car called the 2030 Yez is the first automobile that promises to remove more pollution from the air than it creates. It’s an electric car that also combines several other technologies. The photo looks like something out of this world, doesn’t…
Have you ever stopped to think your next breakthrough product may be right under your nose? Or that ‘local’ could go very global with the right development support and customer-needs tailoring? As a proud resident of Appleton, Wisconsin, I recently took a look at the surprisingly rich history of invention and innovation in my hometown…
A few weeks ago I posed the question: Have you jumped on the blockchain wagon? A blockchain is a data structure that makes it possible to create a digital ledger of transactions and share it among a distributed network of computers. It uses cryptography to allow each participant on the network to manipulate the ledger…
Happy New Year’s Eve! On this last day of 2010, I’m looking back at where we started and finished in our own innovation projects and how we accomplished our goals. How did you do in that respect? Did you notice any trends that can help your business in 2011? One of the bigger trends of…
On this Memorial weekend, many people are traveling and spending time in hotels. Here is a Friday fun technology trend to kick off the holiday weekend: Some hotels are now allowing customers to use their cell phones as hotel room keys. The customers are test marketing the idea in two Holiday Inn locations in Chicago…
