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3G Technology – Promises and Challenges
Introduction Imagine a situation where you are about to make an important Sales Presentation. You realize that you have brought the wrong presentation slides and you call up your colleague. She immediately emails the file to your 3G terminal and...
Commotion with Corrosion
This is not another boring science topic that will put you off
to sleep. Trust me, I'll make this as simple and as interesting
read as possible.
Corrosion's dictionary meaning is synonymous to a list of words
like rusting, corroding,...
Genetic Genealogy Research
One of the first genetic genealogy studies was conducted in the late 1980s by scientists with the Department of Biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. These scientists Rebecca L. Cann, Mark Stoneking and Allan C. Wilson studied a...
The Astrologer, the King and the Fool: When will Astrologers be Invited to the Party?
A recent article raised the question, why are the presence and opinions of people like the Dalai Lama, Eckhart Tolle, Nelson Mandela and Deepok Chopra regularly included in important world conferences on peace and global community while Rob Hand,...
Your Connection to the Elements
In ancient times, scientists, philosophers and magi divided matter into four basic elements: Air, Fire, Water and Earth. It has been said that these elements are the building blocks of life. A scientist and philosopher named Empedocles set this...
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Mosquitoes like my blood
Here in Mauritius, mosquitoes are in paradise. The male mosquitoes have all the fruits they’ll ever dream of – god knows whether they actually dream – all year long while the female mosquitoes can choose from a numerous number of tourists to feed on.
It is of no surprise that tourists get bitten more than we, locals do. And the reaction which occurs on the tourists’ skin is quiet unusual to me. A large red swelling develops. It is about twice the size that the one which would have formed on my skin if I was to get bitten. Apparently the bite that a tourist receives is also more irritant. In my opinion, this is because foreigners are not as used to get mosquito bites than Mauritians do. But one thing is for sire though: some people do get bitten more than others.
Why is this so? Or rather, why are some people bitten less? James Logan, a research student at the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) has found that some people give off ‘masking’ odours that prevent mosquitoes from detecting them. Another study, done earlier by Professor John Pickett and his team, showed that the number of flies circulating around
a herd depended on certain cows being present. Professor Pickett and his team discovered that unattractive – to mosquitoes at least - individuals gave out different chemical signals from other cows. To be sure about this fact, the unattractive cows were removed and the number of flies bothering the herd did indeed increase. These ‘ordinary’ cows had not been camouflaged by the unattractive cows’ special ‘masking’ odour and therefore the flies were attracted to the ‘ordinary’ cows.
After some other experiments, it was concluded that the famous ‘masking’ odours were acting as repellents or as a cover up. This finding could lead to a new type of insect repellent. These would be both safer and more effective.
Next time you get bitten, just think that the mosquitoes are not attracted by your ‘sweet’ blood but by your own odour.
About the Author
Khalil A.Cassimally is the editor in chief of Astronomy Journal and Astronomy Journal Ezine. He is also the co-founder of the RCPL Astronomy Club.
He is currently Senior Columnist at BackWash.com and Columnist for bbc.co.uk h2g2 The Post where he writes 'Not Scientific Science' column.
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