Startup Takes Bite Out of Mosquito-Borne Sickness

Ask folks which animal kills the most people each year and they’ll probably say crocodiles, sharks or maybe lions. But the correct answer is a lot less obvious — the mosquito. To give a sense of the damage they’ve wrought, an analysis of all the deaths that have occurred on Earth estimates that the pests, through the spread of infectious diseases, have killed 32 times more people than every war in human history combined. A research effort in Puerto Rico is raising hopes that deep learning can take a serious bite out of mosquitoes’ deadly impact, which can reach epidemic proportions in the nearly 100 countries where malaria, Zika and dengue are prevalent.