What are pests? ‘a plant or animal detrimental to humans or human concerns (as agriculture or livestock production)"; alternative meanings include organisms that cause nuisance and epidemic disease associated with high mortality.’ In short they are troublesome and are the reason for unhealthy crops and dangerous food. What are pesticides? ‘A pesticide is any substance used to kill, repel, or control certain forms of plant or animal life that are considered to be pests.’ Pesticides are extremely helpful. They help by improving food production and fighting off insect-borne diseases but each coin has two sides. Their dark side is linked with birth defects, cancer and other health problems in humans, as well as declines in wildlife ranging from
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And now a boom in lighting technology is beginning to hint at unexpected alternatives to chemical pesticides: lasers and light-emitting diodes, or LEDs. Japanese researchers from Tohoku University have touched upon the topic of certain wavelengths of visible light being harmful to certain species of insects. For example, blue light with a wavelength of 467 nm, was lethal to the fruit fly pupae while ultraviolet A light of wavelength 378 nm was comparatively less harmful. They also went on further to find that pupae of the London Underground mosquito were killed by violet, which is of wavelength 417 nm. On the other hand pupae of the confused four beetle can be killed with several different wavelengths of light, moving on from blue to violet. If multiple insects have to be killed you will have to use multiple types of LEDs, UV light is by far the best, but it’s harmful to mammals hence not recommended. Of course it’s different than nature, as the insects were presented in front of much more light than they would have naturally. The interesting thing about this study is that it’s actually viable. This technology could be used in many environments to kill different types of bugs. The advantage of this theory is that people would be able to kill selective bugs and leave the harmful ones untouched. Another positive to this study is that it would reduce pesticide use which would in turn lead to healthier and less dangerous food for us humans. The only negative till now is that the project will consume a lot of energy and economic viability has not been considered yet. If the price tends to be lower, or even a little higher it would be extremely efficient and effective. But if it tends to be higher than most of the farmers will not adopt this method. This theory
And now a boom in lighting technology is beginning to hint at unexpected alternatives to chemical pesticides: lasers and light-emitting diodes, or LEDs. Japanese researchers from Tohoku University have touched upon the topic of certain wavelengths of visible light being harmful to certain species of insects. For example, blue light with a wavelength of 467 nm, was lethal to the fruit fly pupae while ultraviolet A light of wavelength 378 nm was comparatively less harmful. They also went on further to find that pupae of the London Underground mosquito were killed by violet, which is of wavelength 417 nm. On the other hand pupae of the confused four beetle can be killed with several different wavelengths of light, moving on from blue to violet. If multiple insects have to be killed you will have to use multiple types of LEDs, UV light is by far the best, but it’s harmful to mammals hence not recommended. Of course it’s different than nature, as the insects were presented in front of much more light than they would have naturally. The interesting thing about this study is that it’s actually viable. This technology could be used in many environments to kill different types of bugs. The advantage of this theory is that people would be able to kill selective bugs and leave the harmful ones untouched. Another positive to this study is that it would reduce pesticide use which would in turn lead to healthier and less dangerous food for us humans. The only negative till now is that the project will consume a lot of energy and economic viability has not been considered yet. If the price tends to be lower, or even a little higher it would be extremely efficient and effective. But if it tends to be higher than most of the farmers will not adopt this method. This theory