The buzz about the Mosquito

A new device emitting a high-pitched tone has been implemented by businesses to discourage adolescents from loitering.

The $1,500 gadget, called the Mosquito, was installed in malls, schools and other public places across the United States and Europe. The Mosquito, a small, wall-mounted box, emits a shrill shriek at a pitch only youth ears are attuned to.

The sound is “horrible, loud and irritating,” said 15-year-old Eddie Holder in an Associated Press article. “I have to hurry out of the building because it’s so annoying.”

Civil liberties groups in Europe have expressed outrage over the installation of the Mosquito, arguing that the device infringes on basic human rights and could cause long-term damage.

Some towns in the United States have banned the Mosquito as well, but other communities cite the success of the device in monitoring loitering.

“We used to have young men here all of the time, bothering people in the building and doing illegal things,” said Carmen Ramirez, superintendent of a Queens apartment building, in the Associated Press article. “As soon as we put it up, they were gone and they haven’t been back. If they return, we’ll just put up more.”

The sound can also be heard by babies and animals but is only irritating to people older than about 12 who have sensitive inner ear hairs.

Most people lose this sensitivity by their mid-20s.

J-E-L-L-O

A spilled truckload of Jell-O snack packets caused a major traffic jam on Wednesday.

The truck driver was commuting on Interstate 95 in Jacksonville, Fla., when he crashed into another truck, flipping his vehicle and spilling hundreds of powder packets.

Police quickly arrived to rescue the driver, who was trapped inside the truck. He was airlifted to a Saint Johns County hospital where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

There is no evident cause of the crash and authorities reported to The Associated Press that no one else was injured in the Jell-O incident.

Signs of life?

On Monday night, Arizona residents witnessed four blinking lights above North Phoenix. The flickering lights appeared both red and white from about 8-8:15 p.m.

Officials from the Air Force said the lights were not due to their flight operations and neither Deer Valley Airport nor Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport could offer an explanation.

Angela Cotera, an astronomer from Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence Institute, (SETI), said she believed the lights were flares.

“They move counter to what we expect they should, especially when you see them from a great distance like we can here in Arizona,” Cotera said in an Arizona Republic article April 23rd. “They are not really hovering, it’s simply perspective.”

This event almost marks the 10-year anniversary of a mysterious Arizona sky sighting. In March 1997, thousands of people witnessed blinking lights in the same area.