The Zika virus is a problem and over in Brazil, it seems that agencies Posterscope and NBS have come up with a creative solution: a billboard that will be able to attract and kill mosquitos that could potentially carry the disease. So how does this work? Does it emit some kind of special light or scent to attract insects?

Actually this is where it gets interesting. It seems that how the billboard attracts and kills mosquitos is by emitting carbon dioxide and a lactic acid solution. This is meant to mimic the human skin, breathing, and sweat, something that mosquitos are attracted to. So by creating such a huge billboard, mosquitos will fly into it, become trapped and die, or at least that’s the idea.

It sounds like a pretty good idea, right? In fact the agencies have called upon others to help build more similar signboards and have even published the technical specifications online for others to follow. The WHO has even acknowledged that these traps might be useful, although they state that further research needs to be done to determine how efficient these traps are.

However not everyone is convinced. Speaking to the BBC, Chris Jackson, a pest control expert at the University of Southampton said that this could actually lead to an increase in cases, rather than reduce them. “Maybe if it was not in a high-density place, where people are sitting perhaps with exposed legs, otherwise, you’re pulling in hungry mosquitoes and providing them with exposed human flesh.”

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