12-Year Old Creates Robot To Help Combat Malaria

We’ve all swatted the occasional mosquito, and for the most part they tend to be pretty annoying, but there is also a chance that they could be deadly. They can spread diseases like malaria and dengue, the former apparently kills about 627,000 people each year. Well it seems like a 12-year old student has had enough and has created a robot that will help stamp them out.

David Cohen is a 12-year old student who took part in the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge, with his invention making it into the top ten finalists. Basically his invention is a robot that uses a pump-jet system that will be able to drown mosquitos in the water and keep them underwater using mesh.

Cohen was paired with a 3M product development specialist in the Consumer Health Care Division, Delony Langer-Anderson. Speaking to the folks at HuffPost, Langer-Anderson praised Cohen’s work and approach. “David looked at the problem of mosquito-borne illnesses in a different way. He asked, ‘What if the mosquito was never born?’ As he’s worked through prototypes and ideas, he’s never lost sight of the idea that if he can stop the mosquito from emerging from the larvae stage, he can prevent them from spreading diseases.”

Of course it remains to be seen if Cohen’s work will actually make a difference and help to decrease the amount of malaria cases each year, but regardless whether he is successful or not, the fact that he is trying at such a young age is truly commendable.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Medical, Robots
Tags: Science