LG Sells Mosquito-Repelling TV In India (technobuffalo.com) 50
An anonymous reader writes: In effort to fight Zika, dengue and malaria, LG has released the "LG 32LG52D" TV with "Mosquito Away Technology." According to Reuters, the TV uses ultrasonic waves that are inaudible to humans but cause mosquitoes to fly away. The TV has been released in India Thursday, and will go on sale next month in the Philippines and Sri Lanka, with no plans to market it elsewhere. It is available in two models, priced at 26,500 rupees and 47,500 rupees ($394 and $706). LG says the same technology used in its new TV has been used in some of its air conditioners and washing machines.
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Have I got a deal for you! (Score:3, Funny)
My friend, for less than HALF that price, I'll sell you a mosquito-repelling rock! Shoots ultrasound waves. Humans can't hear 'em. This netting acts as an antenna. And it WORKS! There are no mosquitoes in here, right?
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I endorse this product. The rock was used by early Native Americans and was called the "apasapion rock."
I asked an expert in Native American geological studies and he said that, apasapion comes to us from the Greek (ca. 400 BC) for "sex."
I said, "So, doc ... it's a sex rock. Why is that?"
He said, "Because it's a fucking rock ."
Re:the mosquitos fly (Score:5, Interesting)
they won't even fly from the TV, mosquitoes are insensitive to sound even including the ones their predators make; look up what scientist have to say about repelling mosquitoes with *any* frequency including dragonfly generated frequencies, bird generated, etc. bottom line: they aren't repelled by any known sound
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Probably repelled by focused ultrasound, 'cause it would turn them into a-cellular slurry.
Might not be real safe to have it being emitted from a tv though, haha.
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I welcome our deadly television overlords
Everyone should have a Twonky
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That's probably why they aren't selling them in the US where people hate mosquitoes AND have money for TVs. And a legal system that frowns on fraud.
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You're joking right? those ultrasonic pest repellers are everywhere in the US, as are a billion other fraudulent products and services ranging from homeopathic "medicines" to psychic readings.
ALVINNNN (Score:2)
those chipmunks that keep coming into my garage when the door is open sure as hell hear me when I enter.
Are they singing?
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No, but one was wearing a leather jacket, and the other a hawaiian shirt.
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A legal system that frowns on fraud? The networks of televangelists could have fooled me into thinking otherwise.
Fraud requires... (Score:2)
...the recipient to *feel* defrauded. It doesn't count if you as an uninvolved 3rd party feels a transaction between other people is fraud.
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I agree, there is a dB level that can bore through any solid object, device that did that was made in the 1970s. I don't think the particular frequency mattered too much....
Wouldn't mosquito-seeking laser cats work better? (Score:1)
Plus, they purr when you pet them.
debunked many times (Score:5, Informative)
Every decade or so since the 1970s there have been ultrasonic mosquito repellents sold. my parents bought one back then. didn't work. and any competent
entomologist will tell you it won't and can't work [bbc.com]
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You know, even when I could still hear it (well into my late 20s, actually) the "teenager repellant" tone didn't bother me all too much. Start playing Garth Brooks, Billy Ray Cyrus, or any of the rest of their genre ilk, over the muzak speakers though; and I'd be looking to leave post-haste. Nothing but nothing was more uncool than country music when I was a teenager.
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I can still hear 17.5KHz, but not very well (I'm 44). One years ago I could still hear it very clearly - it wasn't until a tire I was inflating burst (I could not hear anything for about a half hour) last summer that my high frequency hearing started to degrade. :(
A use for all those unwanted CRT sets! (Score:2)
Loosen up the flyback so you get that 15.75 kHz squeal going, and use the CRT high voltage as a bug zapper...
Huh. (Score:5, Funny)
I guess this is what happens to electronics that get shipped back for coil whine.
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More likely used for tracking (Score:1)
Sound doesn't repel mosquitoes. However, an Indian (and US) firm called SilverPush is using ultrasonic beacons in ads to track users across multiple devices. I suspect that this is really used for tracking people and not to perform any useful function. I really think that ALL marketing firms need to be put out of business and their management sent to jail for the rest of their lives. Advertising is incredibly unethical in the modern world and is a scam for everyone except the marketing companies. Ads are in
I call bullshit and stuff ... (Score:2)
... because why not just sell a 1,000 watt amplifier at those frequencies?
Better Idea (Score:2)
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Already done: http://www.intellectualventure... [intellectualventures.com] http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-... [ieee.org]
It's only "done" when you can get on Amazon or got to Wal-mart and buy one.
That shit has been vaporware for over 10 years. Still nothing, nada, nobody can get one, even if they would spend $500 for one.
So no, not "done". Vaporware.
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> It's only "done" when you can get on Amazon or got to Wal-mart and buy one.
The systems are dangerous to human eyes and they're fire hazards. Until those issues are resolved, and they're very difficult to resolve, I don't see them ever being available for household purchase.
Class warfare (Score:2)
We once used smart way of reducing mosquitoes population, such as releasing huge batch of infertile males
Now the TV approach is quite odd. If you can afford a TV, your mosquitoes will fly away - to the home of the one that cannot afford a TV. This is class warfare bumped to the biological weapon level.
Nonsense... (Score:2)
I remember holding one of these "ultrasonic mosquito repellent" devices in my hands as a kid, watching a mosquito land on it (it was on), and then proceed to land on me for the purpose of biting me...
Just use a regular TV (Score:2)
Just turn on your TV and select any channel dealing with "shopping", "entertainment" or "celebrities". This will either make mosquitoes leave in disgust or make them so stupid they won't remember how to bite.