Weapons of mass mosquito destruction.

Here’s another bonus, courtesy of my fill-in work this week on Future Tense:

Picture this: Malaria-carrying mosquitoes are heading toward a village. A drone aircraft, armed with a laser weapon, blankets the village, killing the mosquitoes, sparing everything — and everyone — else.

Astrophysicist Jordin Kare has spent his career doing things many people consider far fetched. He hunted for supernova explosions with an automated telescope, and designed interstellar propulsion systems. Now, he and astrophysicist Lowell Wood — they also worked on President Reagan’s Star Wars initiative — are working on building the laser weapon the mosquitoes.

Life imitates art. It was just a few years ago when this spoof went viral:

But this is no joke. It’s serious business with serious Bill Gates-like money behind it.

I know what you’re thinking. “Give me one of those babies and a warm summer night.” And while it’s true that Jordin Kare says he wouldn’t mind seeing his project be used for that, it’s not the priority.

Here’s an extended interview with Jordin Kare.