Aedes aegypti—a mosquito vector of Zika virus. Credit: Wikipedia / Rafaelgilo.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has concocted a novel plan to combat the spread of the Zika virus in Brazil by sterilizing and releasing large amounts of male mosquitoes using drones.
Sterilized male mosquitoes will mate with females in the wild who will lay eggs that produce no offspring.
“It’s a birth control method, the equivalent of family planning for humans,” commented Kostas Bourtzis, a molecular biologist with the IAEA’s insect pest control laboratory.
The sterilization method, called irradiation (exposure to radioactive material), has been used by the IAEA to control fruit flies on the Portuguese island of Madeira.
The agency said Monday that it will pay to ship the device used in Madeira to Juazeiro in Brazil’s northeast region, pending an import permit from the Brazilian government.
This drone has an advanced electronically scanning radar on board, equipment usually much too bulky and expensive for such small craft.
A Brazilian non-profit, Moscamed, has begun parallel efforts to breed 12 million mosquitoes a week to be sterilized with a cobalt-60 irradiator in collaboration with Canadian company MDS Nourdion.
Brazilian scientists are also experimenting with radioactive sterilization.
The Fiocruz biomedical research institute in Recife has released 30,000 mosquitoes sterilized by radioactive exposure on Fernando de Noronha, an island 350 km 217 miles) off the coast of northeast Brazil.
Fiocruz’s pilot radioactive sterilization project found that 70 percent of the eggs laid by females were sterile, according to Fiocruz researcher Alice Varjal. Results from their latest experiment in Fernando de Noronha are expected in May. (Sputnik)
About the IAEA (H/T Wikipedia):
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. The IAEA was established as an autonomous organization on 29 July 1957. Though established independently of the United Nations through its own international treaty, the IAEA Statute, the IAEA reports to both the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council.
The IAEA has its headquarters in Vienna. The IAEA has two “Regional Safeguards Offices” which are located in Toronto, Canada, and in Tokyo, Japan. The IAEA also has two liaison offices which are located in New York City, United States, and in Geneva, Switzerland. In addition, the IAEA has three laboratories located in Vienna and Seibersdorf, Austria, and in Monaco.
Tell us your thoughts on this article. If logged in with any of your Wordpress.com, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or registered on this site before, then you can simply write your comment below. Thanks and appreciate your feedback. Cancel reply
>>>>> More Human Events & Stories On
Science,Tech News
Mission accomplished. Exactly after 62 days in space, approximately 1,024 orbits around Earth and four spacewalks, United State’s #LaunchAmerica crew members are on their way home! This is the livestream coverage happening on Sunday, Aug. 2, which starts at 7:25 a.m. EDT. NASA Astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard […]
US astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley is scheduled to depart from the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Dragon “Endeavour” spacecraft today, Aug. 1 2020. NASA will provide a livestream coverage of the event as the test mission nears its completion aboard the orbiting laboratory. Coverage begins about 5:15 p.m. […]
I have mentioned in one of my most recent posts, new removable hard drives are coming. And this is it folks. The first of three has arrived. I can’t wait for the next day so I am filming an unboxing episode in the very late hour of the night. I […]
Coverage continues here thru NASA Television and the agency’s website providing live video stream of NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 test flight carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley on their way to the International Space Station. By NASA Hurley and Behnkhen received their wake-up call at 4:45 a.m. EDT with the song “Planet Caravan” by Black […]
After the shelved space launch tagged as history-making the collaboration of SpaceX and NASA’s of two astronauts into earth’s orbit on Thursday, an unfortunate and not expected failure happened Friday afternoon. Starship SN4 prototype blew up on its test stand in Boca Chica, Texas. This time it involved the explosion […]
In a letter to Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) presents a frequently updated table of studies that report results of treating COVID-19 with the anti-malaria drugs chloroquine (CQ) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ, Plaquenil®). This report via Association of American Physicians and Surgeons To […]
Things are moving fast. At least in the rush to find a cure, or halt the pandemic new coronavirus from China or Covid-19. This we learned as the Federal Drug Administration (USA) and Gilead Sciences, Inc. (a research-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of innovative medicines) […]
Advisory: This post will discuss in a very subtle way (don’t panic) how one can avoid contracting Covid-19 and at the same time explain in a layman’s language how immunocompromised patients are in a precarious situation. Ordinary people should get a proper and good explanation about the pandemic #covid19 (or […]
As the pandemic effect of the novel coronavirus 2019 or covid-19 or Chinese virus or Wuhan coronavirus sweeps the world, social media is also abuzz and busy about it. Social sharing media giant Facebook is being used as the public square of sharing truth, half-truth and totally false claims by […]
You read it right. In the states, students fresh off for the spring vacation help spread the dreaded covid-19. Fresh off from the school campuses for their much awaited spring break, college students mass travelled to one destination, the beach, and here among other places, the Florida beaches. A stunning […]
It’s all over the news. Online. Printed. Broadcast. Blog. Vlog. Social sharing sites. The prognosis on the sweeping effects of dreaded coronavirus or Covid-19 (as the World Health Organization wants us to refer to it to clear the stigma now surrounding it) is overflowing. The last continent yet ‘untouched’ by […]
China’s state media reports have confirmed that Liu Zhiming, the boss of one of the Wuhan hospitals battling the coronavirus, has died. This information surfaces as Hubei province reports Covid-19 infections of 1,807 new cases, and 93 deaths. Below, twitter handle @Secret_Beijing shared this information on death of the hospital […]
Senator Tom Cotton says that China is refusing to hand over evidence concerning the bio-safety level 4 research lab in Wuhan despite a new report from biological scientists at the South China University of Technology saying it may have been the source of the coronavirus outbreak. During an appearance on […]
The hospital building built in Wuhan in record time for patients downed by the coronavirus infection is leaking. This we learned from a social media post by an insider. For sometime, the construction of two hospitals in Wuhan earmarked to handle treatment of inpatients infected by the 2019 new coronavirus […]
China deploys 25K medical personnel to coronavirus-plagued Hubei as ‘War Time Condition’ begins Some 217 medical rescue groups with 25,633 personnel are dispatched to ground zero of the 2019 new coronavirus or covid-19 stricken Wuhan city in China’s Hubei province. According to state-operated news outlet Global Times 25,633 medical rescue […]
Journalist Bin Fang exposed the truth of 2019 new #coronavirus from Wuhan, recently ID’d by the World Health Organization as #Covid19, and now thought to be under detention or captivity by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Below was the last video he was able to post on social media sharing […]
The world has been tuned in for weeks now to the heightened health security challenge that is blowing up into a proportion worthy of pandemic consideration, this new coronavirus (2019nCoV) from China. The official version was that it debuted specifically in the densely populated city of Wuhan of Hubei province, […]
Catch up with the update on novel coronavirus, this time with the team assembled by US President Donald J. Trump. Below video, the team discloses the official steps to be undertaken by the American government on the pandemic threat of the dreaded #2019nCoV. The press briefing was earlier conducted in […]
Finally, the deepest recesses of the world wide web, much of microblogging networks, special mention of Twitter, is exploding with posts about the newest scare of #20l9nCoV that was triggered in #Wuhan, China. Be forewarned. At times like these, posts on social media sites are not always true. Beware of […]
EXTRA EDITION. The threat is real and damning with novel corona virus update: 1 infected in the Philippines. Also confirmed in the USA 1 person who was never been to Wuhan infected by an infected carrier from Wuhan! The World Health Organization (WHO) on January 30, 2020 issues “notice of […]
First case of novel coronavirus surfaces in the Philippines. This was confirmed on January 30, Thursday. In a news briefing yesterday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the identified infected patient is one of the 29 people subjected to monitoring. Watch/Read: How to avoid getting infected with novel coronavirus on […]
The franctic rush and battle to find immediate solution to China’s Wuhan new coronavirus pandemic threat is getting a different narrative and coverage on the cyberspace, more particularly in the social media platform. This we gathered after the official Twitter account of the International Civil Aviation Organization or ICAO, which […]
What application or software do you use to edit or manipulate photos? Other than the premium app of Photoshop from Adobe which is heavy on the pocket and very prohibitive for a tight budget, there should be an alternative. Searching on Google for a decent photo editor, and a free […]
An online social media network executive urges its service to lay a level playing field for US President Donald Trump in the 2020 elections. The Facebook vice-president for augmented and virtual-reality Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth first posted his 2,500 worded opinion in a private internal Facebook channel. When the New York […]
Aptly, enough, it will be like a battle of David VS. Goliath. An Isreal-based company is suing a social media networking giant for $500 billion in Australia. According to TR News, “Facebook, Google & Twitter have been sent legal letters putting them on notice about this claim for damages exceeding […]
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is sending 7,600 pounds of research, supplies and hardware to the crew members living and working on the International Space Station. The space launch by Northrop Grumman Corporation wull be using its Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus spacecraft. The company named it in […]
Russia has just unveiled its most advanced lightweight MIG-35 fighters in a stunning video with demonstration of the jet capabiliities. The Russian Ministry of Defense said, “At the moment, the aircraft are in full swing being tested by experts of the State Flight Test Center of the Ministry and the […]
When a peson suffers severe gunshot wound on the face, many would tend to believe either the victim will not survive. If he do, he will have a deformed face the rest of his life. The last statement was almost true. But only to be proven false with the wonders […]
This is the moment when man meets robot. What happens next are amazing sequences. Here TV host Jimmy Fallon of the Tonight Show feature demos of amazing new robots from all over the world. It include Massachusset’s Institute of Technology (MIT’s) Mini Cheetah, a wearable tomato-feeding robot and Sophia, […]
After careful consideration, Cbanga360.Net switches back in time to a dated and quirky theme of a few eons back. The change was made into effect last week bringing upfront past and previous posts (Throwback and Upcoming) to our readers which are still relevant and were most read that time. This […]
President Rodrigo Duterte’s blogger-supporter and now amply rewarded as Assistant Secretary in the office of Presidential Communication Operations Office has courted, again, the ire of netizens, specifically Twitter users. This time, tweets criss cross the internet calling for the ouster or removal of the former sexy dancer from her Malacanang […]
Russian IT security company Kaspersky Lab announced it is launching worldwide a free antivirus Kaspersky Free version. This information was released Tuesday last week by Yevgeny Valentinovich Kaspersky, also known outside Russia and the west as Eugene Kaspersky, the company’s CEO. “I’ve some fantastic, earth-shattering-saving news. We’re announcing the global […]
The premise is that if the outer space, the space outside our planet Earth, and beyond the limitless Universe is almost a vacuum, then there would not be any sound. So that space explorers will hear nothing, except the eerie, deafening sound of ….. silence. Totally. And following the same […]
He love his car. Have driven it for 10 years. It is 1996 Model Suzuki Vitara. But he has to let go from that personal attachment. This mixed feeling, “with deep sorrow selling my little beast,” for a 21-year old SUV proved powerful enough that owner Eugene Romanovsky had to […]
This is how America grow the awesome kamote or sweet potato So, how do you plant kamote or sweet potatoes? You go down the market, buy a bundle of fresh cut kamote tops complete with long stems. Consume the leaves either through a simple salad or part of the sinigang […]
Want to see a night treat gazing at the stars far beyond our sun. Well, this one might as well be a huge helping. Thanks to the StarryNights, some of the largest observatories in time-lapse from Jan Hattenbach, a collection of astronomical videos recorded of the last three years by […]
Cry, anti-GMO people, organizations, advocates against the GMO gory phenomenon. The pro-GMO, it seems is gaining foothold in the country fast and easy, with the support of big money, corporations, public and private institutions and not to discount the government and its people within. The Philippines is now the number […]
Are you ready for 10,000 character limit per tweet? Is this good news for twit addicts? The possibility of posting tweets up to 10,000 characters is in the neighborhood. According to well informed sources in the industry, Twitter may soon introduce the new feature which will allow users to send […]
Thousands of Filipinos working on contract overseas jobs, commonly known for short as OFWs, drive away their homesickness and longing for things Pinoy, resort to watching Filipino-produced television programs and movies which are always available for free on the internet. News updates, teleseryes, lifestyle programs, variety shows. Name it and […]
MANILA — The Department of Education has teamed up with Microsoft Philippines in launching the EGG, a self-contained classroom that could be set up in remote areas, filter its own water and generate power system and has internet connectivity. The EGG can accommodate more than 30 students and can be […]
US astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley is scheduled to depart from the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Dragon “Endeavour” spacecraft today, Aug. 1 2020. NASA will provide a livestream coverage of the event as the test mission nears its completion aboard the orbiting laboratory. Coverage begins about 5:15 p.m. […]
China deploys 25K medical personnel to coronavirus-plagued Hubei as ‘War Time Condition’ begins Some 217 medical rescue groups with 25,633 personnel are dispatched to ground zero of the 2019 new coronavirus or covid-19 stricken Wuhan city in China’s Hubei province. According to state-operated news outlet Global Times 25,633 medical rescue […]
Finally, the deepest recesses of the world wide web, much of microblogging networks, special mention of Twitter, is exploding with posts about the newest scare of #20l9nCoV that was triggered in #Wuhan, China. Be forewarned. At times like these, posts on social media sites are not always true. Beware of […]
Austrian pilot and daredevil Felix Baumgartner finally broke the sound barrier on Sunday, October 14, 2012. That happened in a skydive from the stratosphere, from the height of approximately 38.5 km (128,000 ft, 24.24 miles) above the Earth’s surface. The jumper reached Mach 1.24 or 1,342 km/h (833.9 miles per […]
Don’t let bad guys get hold of this device to unlock and steal vehicles. The growing incidents of car thefts in the USA with the help of technology is something. It is actually alarming. Two years ago, the American public was warned about an electronic mystery device that allows thieves […]
Catch up with the update on novel coronavirus, this time with the team assembled by US President Donald J. Trump. Below video, the team discloses the official steps to be undertaken by the American government on the pandemic threat of the dreaded #2019nCoV. The press briefing was earlier conducted in […]
GENEVA — The Director-General of World Health Organization and presidents of west African nations impacted by the Ebola virus disease envisaged to launch a new joint US$ 100 million response plan as part of an intensified international campaign to bring the outbreak under control. “The scale of the Ebola outbreak, […]
How typhoons are rated, so how strong is a super typhoon? The following article should give us a simple overview of how typhoons are rated (in strength) when it enters the Philippine Area of Responsibility. The Philippines is expecting another powerful typhoon this Friday and fears for its wrath are […]
As the flight test of United States’ NASA Orion spacecraft nears, a new video — called “Trial By Fire” — details the spacecraft’s test and the critical systems engineers will evaluate during the Dec. 4 flight. Orion is in the final stages of preparation for the unmanned (uncrewed) flight test […]
Once the ice that cover majority of the European autonomous nation of Greenland vanishes, man will find many interesting features of its terrain and landscape. One, is the mega canyon of Greenland, far longer than the Grand Canyon of mainland United States of America. According to NASA: Data from a […]
We read articles by well-informed techno-pundits prognosticate about the era of the personal computer on its way to the exit door, I tell pray that not in the next few years, please. I have just acquired an HP pavilion dm4-3055dx notebook entertainment PC powered with 2nd generation Intel Core i5-2430M […]
Check this out! Hackers striked back. This time, not only one but more websites were hacked and taken over, identifying themselves as ‘Pinoy Hackers.’ We sample one hacked site, http://www.fliptoplines.com and the defaced front page displays the message “Pinoy Hackers,” and with the message “Greetings Philippines! We are Pinoy Hackers. […]
United Arab Emirate’s Dubai is going forward with the testing of driverless vehicle in its streets. Where luxury cars are as ubiquitous as the landmarks of this middle eastern territory, the third testing deployment of autonomous car went ahead smoothly using an autonomous electric bus. The vehicle cruised on the […]
Here is a round-up of the 8 most popular images shared by NASA in social sharing site Instagram for the past year of 2015. 1. Pluto The dwarf planet sent a love note back to Earth via the New Horizons spacecraft, which traveled more than 9 years and 3+ billion […]
The first launch failure for NASA’s commercial space companies happened with an explosion. Seconds after liftoff, Orbital Science’s Antares rocket exploded as it rose from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, Virginia. The explosion appeared to come at the base of the rocket. The entire assembly then fell back […]
Rosetta to harpoon Philae lander on a comet. The scientific world is closely monitoring one exciting event that should happen very soon. We are referring to the final hours before Rosetta’s Philae lander is released to attempt a first-ever landing on a comet. Early tomorrow morning (by Western Hemisphere time), […]
DAVAO CITY, March 12 — Ten municipalities in the Davao Region earlier identified by the Regional Development Council XI may soon have access to free internet through the TV White Space Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology. Among the 10 municipalities in the region that will soon have […]
First, the driverless cars. Now what is Dubai up to next? The city of Dubai, the modern capital of the Emirate of Dubai, one of seven that comprise the United Arab Emirates, is opening up to another first in the world. It is because by July this year, passenger drones […]
It’s all over the news. Online. Printed. Broadcast. Blog. Vlog. Social sharing sites. The prognosis on the sweeping effects of dreaded coronavirus or Covid-19 (as the World Health Organization wants us to refer to it to clear the stigma now surrounding it) is overflowing. The last continent yet ‘untouched’ by […]