All posts tagged: Mosquito

Iran Is Using Tiny ‘Mosquito’ Boats to Shut Down the Strait of Hormuz

Iran Is Using Tiny ‘Mosquito’ Boats to Shut Down the Strait of Hormuz

Published by skeptic

In the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has developed an asymmetrical naval strategy that is crippling the passage of container ships. This “hemostat” uses guerrilla tactics, after Iran’s “traditional” fleet was almost entirely destroyed by US and Israeli attacks. No longer able to rely on specialized military ships, Tehran is using an unconventional force made up of dozens of small military vessels armed with missiles, machine guns, and drones. Quick and nimble, this “mosquito fleet” is capable of assaulting ships carrying tons of cargo. In mid-April, US president Donald Trump had reassured the public in a post on Truth Social that Iran’s hemostat fleet did not pose a major problem for the US and Israel. “The Iranian Navy lies at the bottom of the sea, completely annihilated: 158 ships,” Trump wrote. “What we didn’t hit are their small numbers of what they call ‘fast attack boats’ because we didn’t consider them a big threat.” Less than 10 days later, on April 22, an Iranian attack conducted with the small vessels led to the seizure of two …

Here in the Strait, Iran’s mosquito fleet renders Trump blockade futile

Here in the Strait, Iran’s mosquito fleet renders Trump blockade futile

Published by Sam Flores

You can hear them before you see them, a distant sputter of engines carrying across the seemingly empty waters of the Strait of Hormuz. Then, out of the haze, they appear. Speedboats – dozens at first, then hundreds – bouncing over the swell, each carrying no more than two or three men, their faces wrapped in scarves against the spray. For the next two hours, they stream past at a relentless pace, churning across the narrowest stretch of the Strait where our boat bobs on the waves. The constant traffic offers a clue to a larger truth. Sealing the world’s most important waterway is one thing. Reopening it is quite another. Although few vessels now pass through a Strait under double blockade, plenty still move across it. Within this swarm, it would be almost impossible to distinguish a trader from a boat laying mines. In the Strait, speedboats play a vital role. Some are smugglers, others licensed, most operating in the grey zone between – The Telegraph The Strait of Hormuz may be only 21 …

Color-coded mosquitoes safely enables male-only releases to combat Dengue and Zika

Color-coded mosquitoes safely enables male-only releases to combat Dengue and Zika

Published by Jenni Sidey

Across much of the world, a tiny striped insect shapes whether families stay healthy or get sick. The Asian tiger mosquito carries Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya, and traditional control efforts often struggle to keep up. A new genetic trick that literally changes how these mosquitoes look could help tip the balance in your favor. Why Separating Mosquito Sexes Matters Only female mosquitoes bite and pass on viruses. Males drink nectar, not blood. Many modern control programs release large numbers of males that are sterile or carry a trait that reduces survival in the next generation. When those males mate with wild females, fewer disease-carrying offspring survive. There is one big catch. These programs must release only males. If too many females slip through, they will still bite, still spread disease and may even weaken the program. Today, most facilities separate sexes by size during the pupal stage. That work is tedious, hard to automate and far from perfect. Characterization of the yellow mutant phenotype. (CREDIT: Nature Communications) Researchers led by Doron Zaada and Prof. Philippos …