I'm working in a field which tries to open
and actually will open a new window
on the universe.
Perfect.
I wanted to apply my astrophysics optics laser
expertise towards some humanitarian goal
that I can help people.
I had this idea that maybe optics and light
can repel or affect insects,
and maybe that can be used to eradicate malaria.
We started to get into this area with mosquitoes
but later we realized that other insects -
wasps, flies - also react.
So the basic effect the way you should imagine
is that you can divide space into two regions.
You should have the light barrier
here through here.
Then insects come, either walk or fly.
They get repelled from this invisible wall,
so it acts like a mirror for insects.
So you can use this effect to actually close
one part of the space like outside
of your house, inside of your house,
put it in the window, door, around the bed,
to actually repel insects.
This idea will be studied in depth
to survey the physical and biological parameters
of space and then model mathematically
and our hope is that it will lead
to practical devices in the future
which can utilize this effect
of light walls like barriers to actually repel
insects in a realistic environment.
