As the winter months fall behind us and summer heat starts to rise, we have some visitors in our midst: the all-pervading mosquitos. Everywhere and anywhere, we find these wonderful creatures hovering all around us, in the walkways, in classrooms, at the chai stalls here in IIT Kanpur, where I teach.
Often in the mornings, they are so full of a late night feast that some of them can’t even lift their own weight. Even though they contain some of the most beautiful elements of physics and biology, given their dexterity in stealthily puncturing our skin, it is hard for most humans to love them.
So among all the electronic and chemical technologies humans have ever developed to battle them, perhaps the most impressive is the ‘electric tennis bat’. While someone unaware may mistake it as one of the pieces of sports equipment Indians love, this single-player game is a pleasure to play. You chase and hit an airborne mosquito with the bat. If you succeed, you will hear the sweet sound of the blood-sucker’s body crackling to death.
