Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates has decided that even the simple mosquito net deserves a radical high tech upgrade. Gates is investing $1 Million in a laser defense barrier to keep mosquitoes away.

The system developed Columbia University Associate Professor Szalbolcs Marka is a laser barrier that is impenetrable to those pesky mosquitoes. The anti-mosquito barrier is actually a laser light system that can be placed around an area like across a window or projected onto the floor to keep the people inside safe from mosquitoes. The idea is that the light would confuse and deter the mosquitoes and fruit flies from flying through it. Marka tested this by placing mosquitoes in a test chamber. He then shot an infrared light ray across the chamber. The mosquitoes flew towards the light barrier but were unable to cross it.

"We stumbled on this: If you have an invisible wall of light, how will mosquitoes and fruit flies react? They do walk or fly into it. Then they turn back. They don't want to cross it," says Márka

Although the practical devices for this system is still years away, the Gates Foundation was so impressed with the idea that Marka and his team of researchers was granted a cool $1 Million to further the research. The Gates Foundation has been working on preventing malaria in developing countries. Malaria is still prevalent in most Third World countries and the disease kills nearly 1 million people a year, most of them in Africa.

The light barrier could prove to be a cost effective way of keeping mosquitoes and bugs out. Mosquito nets only cover a certain area and mosquito repellents could be harmful to young children. This beam of light could cover a large area and be completely unobtrusive.

Watch the video here http://techventures.columbia.edu/blog/profile/mosquito-repelling-light-barriers-show-great-promise-containment-malaria