For decades, farming has depended on pesticides.
While these chemical bug-killers can keep crops safe, they are having a devastating effect on the environment—and are being blamed for the mass extinction of many different animals which rely on insects to survive.
It's possible to ditch chemical pesticides, but we've still been left with no easy way to protect our food supplies from insects.
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Until now, that is. A team of Japanese scientists have developed a 'gamechanging' bug zapping weapon which could stop insects in their tracks—and keep chemicals off of our crops.
Researchers at the Institute of Laser Engineering at Osaka University have developed one of the most effective laser-powered pest control systems ever.
It's capable of zapping bugs out of the air as they fly near crops by locking onto their bodies and firing a laser with extreme precision.
They tested it out on a tobacco cutworm, which is notoriously resistant to pesticides and can devastate whole fields of crops.
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They were then able to create a laser gun that could lock onto the 'weak spots' of these bugs and fire a laser beam at them, frying them in seconds.
According to the scientists, the technique could even work on locusts, flies, cockroaches, and other household pests.
If the technology becomes affordable enough, we could see these in many households during summertime—instead of noisy, cumbersome bug zappers.
Plus, it would mean no more pesticides, meaning the revival of wildlife populations and less pollution in the air and soil.
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