"insects are important for healthy ecosystems, but they also ruin crops, spread disease and occasionally bite your neck—ouch. clearly, humankind needs a portable device capable of protecting an area from all six-legged critters. an insect force field would allow hikers to wear what they want, sleep outside the tent and come back for a dropped candy bar an hour later and find it whole. harmful pesticides and superfluous food packaging would be a thing of the past—so would lyme disease and west nile virus. sadly, current technology is lacking: researchers consider ultrasonic pest-control devices useless, and bug zappers—while fun to watch—kill the good insects with the bad."
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