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Using flower scents created in a lab, a team of researchers at Ohio State University plans to lure mosquitoes into traps. The objective: Kill the pests that carry life-threatening diseases, including West Nile Virus and malaria. “Think of the perfume industry. It’s the same approach, but we’re using it to trap mosquitoes for public-health purposes,” said Philip E. Otienoburu, an OSU entomologist.
— Read more at OSU researchers create fragrance mosquitoes can’t resist at The Columbus Dispatch.
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Why is it that the elite French perfumers (known as “noses”) and sommeliers (“upturned noses”) of the world spend so much of their time inhaling cat effluvia from expensive glass bottles? A guess: It may have to do with a mind-control parasite called Toxoplasma gondii. The tiny protozoan may be getting into our brains and tricking us into liking cats—not to mention certain perfumes and wines.
— Read more at The Scent of a Cat Woman at Slate. Hat tip to VanMorrisonFan!
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Patrick Thomas of the Bronx Zoo and the Wildlife Conservation Society talks about scent enrichment programs for big cats held in captivity, and how perfumes are used in the field to assist in learning more about wild animals. Hat tip to Jane!
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The Maryland organic farmer is suffering from an infestation of stink bugs—crop-consuming pests emitting the odor of cilantro mixed with burned rubber and dirty socks. They began destroying his fields of peppers and tomatoes in 2010. Now, they've invaded his Adamstown home, where Mr. Biggins crushes them by hand and has trained his English Shepherd, Coadee, to eat them.
— Got stink bugs? Read more at Out of Odor: Offensive-Smelling Bugs Put U.S. Farmers on the Defensive at the Wall Street Journal.
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The researchers, led by Fredros Okumu at the Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania, are developing traps using natural and artificial foot odors to lure mosquitoes and prevent them from spreading diseases like malaria. Their project was just awarded a grant from Grand Challenges Canada and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
— Read more at Stinky Feet Odor May Prevent Malaria Deaths at Yahoo News.