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Fourth grader Yoshiaki Shono was playing a video game at a park near his Tokyo home when the console froze up. The 10-year-old Japanese boy took it for repair, and found out that an invasive species has taken up residence inside the console: fire ants.
This sent him on a quest to 'design' a type of sand that can repel the fire ants, a species alien to Japan till 2017 when they entered the country, possibly via container ships, and multiplied.
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Yoshiaki has been honoured at a science and invention contest in Tokyo and he has applied for a patent for his innovation, which he hopes will have commercial use soon.
Shono's anti-ant sand was a result of his dozens of experiments for over a year and careful study of the behaviour of the insects.
How Shono's curiosity led to ant-repellent sand
Fire ants are one of the fiercest alien species in Japan. Their venom packs a punch, and a sting can cause a burning sensation on skin, and in worst cases, could lead to anaphylactic shock.
Shono was playing at a park near his home in Tokyo’s Shinagawa in 2023 when they invaded his game console.
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His online research led to the conclusion that the ants had entered the console in search for warmth.
“I wanted to prevent their spread,” Shono, who is asthmatic and suffered from several allergies, was quoted as saying in a story on Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper.
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How the fire ant-repellent sand was created
Shono and his father Mikio used photocatalysis technology for the sand innovation.
The technology is used to turn organic material into water and carbon dioxide.
He contacted a company, which sent him a photocatalyst mix that contained oxidised titanium and tungsten oxide, said the report.
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He experimented it with coral sand, which calcium carbonate that ants find repulsive.
He conducted some 48 experiments over 16 months and finally found the right mix of sand that can repel the ants.
The sand is named 'Kiraboshi no Suna', which means sand of a twinkling star, said the report.