Nematode Roundworms Own This Place
February 9th, 2013 |
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The next time you find yourself becoming mosquito chow, remember this video: This is Strelkovimermis spiculatis — a parasitic nematode, or roundworm — casually escaping from an unlucky, soon-to-be-expired mosquito larva. The way this larva twitches as the nematode slithers out is gut-wrenching. You can still see the poor larva’s vitals pumping even after nematode [...]
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Spiders sniff out humans
This is a jumping spider, and it is unusual in more ways than just its looks. The jumping spider, Evarcha culicivora, or the ‘vampire spider’ is the only animal which chooses its prey based on what the latter has just eaten: it attacks mosquitoes that have recently sucked blood, rather than other types of food.1 [...]
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Cell Phone Data Could Help Clip Malaria Spread
October 11th, 2012 |
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Your cell phone location information can be used to help you find restaurants or help companies serve you targeted ads. What if all of this data could also play a role in studying and fighting deadly infectious diseases, such as malaria? An international team of researchers has done just that—for an entire country. People can [...]
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Bite me: New malaria-proof mosquito developed
July 15th, 2010 |
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An estimated one million people die each year from malaria, a parasitic infection transmitted by mosquitoes. Current control strategies involve blasting the bugs with insecticides, or using drugs to kill the parasite once it infects humans. Unfortunately, these methods are becoming less effective as both pests evolve ways to resist the toxic treatments, so new [...]
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