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China is developing a superpower.
Sensitive radar that can detect wings
According to a senior scientist involved in a government research project, a mosquito was filmed two kilometers away.
The prototype of the device is being tested at the National Defense Laboratory of Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT)
The researcher, who declined to be named, said the project involved sensitive technologies used in China's missile defense system.
"Identify and track individual mosquitoes
"The larger goal is no longer science fiction," he said . ".
"We are actually very close to taking this technology out of the lab and using it to save lives.
"Mosquitoes take more lives than all wars add up-according to the World Health Organization, their infectious bites still kill more than 1 million people a year.
Insects play the role of host in a variety of diseases
New viruses, from malaria to Zika, carry microbes.
However, it is a major challenge for China to offer new radar technology to remove the mask of stealth fighter jets, as they can come and go almost without trace-the familiar hum of them is a giveaway, but only when they're around.
After decades of development, modern military radar can now receive echoes of small objects at impressive distances.
The sea of the US Missile Defense Agency-based X-
For example, a band radar can detect baseball.
From about 4,000 km (2,500 miles)away.
China has developed radar systems for tracking missiles and stealth aircraft, but some scientists working on these military projects believe that the technology can also be used against mosquitoes, they convinced the government to fund their research.
The team led by Longteng received more than 82 million yuan of funds (US$12. 9 million)
From the central government at the end of last year to establish a complete
Large and small mosquito detection radar that can be tested on site.
According to the university's website, Long is the director of the BIT Radar Technology Research Institute and the chief scientist for key military radar projects in China.
He could not be reached for comment.
How to eliminate mosquitoes and eliminate malaria?
According to scientists working on the project, mutant fungi may maintain radar work by emitting fast-pulse sound waves spread at multiple frequencies.
When radio waves hit mosquitoes, they bounce back with information that includes species, gender, speed and direction of flight, and whether insects have eaten.
It can be installed on the roof overlooking the residential community to determine the location, reproduction and rest area of the main mosquito population.
If a colony moves to another community, it is possible to warn families that exist in this way.
Scientists in other countries use civilian radar networks to track the movement of groups of large insects such as birds or locusts, moths, but this is considered the first attempt to monitor mosquitoes using radar.
The researchers said the prototype had reached unprecedented sensitivity as authorities allowed the team to build the system using the latest military radar technology.
For example, it has an advanced array antenna similar to the one used on the latest warships in China.
The antenna can transmit microwaves in different directions at the same time, and can detect missiles or military aircraft faster than conventional radar using a rotating antenna.
It also has a separate antenna to generate radio waves that oscillate in multiple directions.
This is called polarization, which provides detailed information about the target so that researchers can distinguish between hungry blood
Sucking female mosquitoes from polleneating male.
A fast computer then uses an algorithm to simultaneously identify and track the movement of many mosquitoes in the same community.
China makes "the world's largest air purifier"
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Researchers say the project is a collaboration between entomologists and scientists in many other disciplines.
By providing a lot of data, radar has the potential to help biologists learn more about the personal and collective behavior of pests, which may lead to new strategies against mosquito transmissionborne diseases.
The researchers added that the team has made progress in existing technology and can also carry out military applications without detailed instructions.
He also refused to disclose the first complete one.
The size of the radar will be completed.
"We are currently building a unit or two.
In the future, we hope that the radar will be manufactured in large quantities and installed all over the country to form a huge network to monitor the movement of aerial animals [
And mosquitoes. ,” he said.
An award-Yi Zhenyuan
Award-winning military radar researchers and deputy director of the electrical engineering department of Harbin Institute of Technology say it is very difficult to identify and track such a tiny target from a few kilometers away.
The existing military radar technology can detect tiny, uncooperative signals from hundreds to thousands of kilometers away, but mosquitoes are "another matter," he said ".
Yi had some knowledge of radar but did not participate in this project, he said mosquitoes are more like F-
22, with special coating and geometric design to avoid appearing on the radar screen.
"Of course, the mosquito's wings are very different from the metal wings of military aircraft, and their structure, shape and movement are also very different.
A new set of algorithms is needed for mosquito radar, "he said.
Mosquitoes also fly at low speeds, sometimes just hovering in the air, which makes some military radar technology designed to detect quickly
Moving targets that are not very useful for projects.
The biggest challenge will come from the environment, Yi said, because the mosquito's radio waves are very weak and can easily be overwhelmed by background noise.
"So something that works well in the lab may not be so successful in this area," he said . ".
Citizen scientists in Hong Kong have localized mosquito tracking applications for people to report the sightings of carriersLiu Xingyue, a professor of insect research at China Agricultural University in Beijing, he said, the radar program allows pest control personnel to closely monitor mosquito and other small insect populations in an area.
He said areas, including Northeast China, tropical countries and Africa, are still plagued by mosquitoes and the diseases they carry.
Radar can capture differences in behavior such as flapping wings, giving scientists a "precise --
"In our war against the most deadly creatures on Earth, we used guided weapons," he said . ".
"Millions of lives can be saved.
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