Mosquitoes in space

Recently I was reading that the reason mosquitoes always land head-up on
the walls is that they use gravity to help their digestion.
What I was wandering is: has anybody ever tried flying mosquitoes in
space to check their behaviour in zero-g?
Paolo

In article ,
Paolo Ulivi wrote:
What I was wandering is: has anybody ever tried flying mosquitoes in
space to check their behaviour in zero-g?

Well, there's been a mosquito in the shuttle cabin at launch at least
once, but that wasn't exactly a formal experiment...
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Paolo Ulivi writes:

Recently I was reading that the reason mosquitoes always land head-up on
the walls is that they use gravity to help their digestion.
What I was wandering is: has anybody ever tried flying mosquitoes in
space to check their behaviour in zero-g?

No --- and why would anyone care? Would it help in eradicating them?
I rather doubt it.


-- Gordon D. Pusch

perl -e '$_ = \n"; s/NO\.//; s/SPAM\.//; print;'

(Gordon D. Pusch) wrote in message ...
Paolo Ulivi writes:

Recently I was reading that the reason mosquitoes always land head-up on
the walls is that they use gravity to help their digestion.
What I was wandering is: has anybody ever tried flying mosquitoes in
space to check their behaviour in zero-g?

No --- and why would anyone care? Would it help in eradicating them?
I rather doubt it.

You are obviously not a biologist ;-)

regards,
Christian Petersen

(Christian Petersen) writes:

(Gordon D. Pusch) wrote in message ...
Paolo Ulivi writes:

Recently I was reading that the reason mosquitoes always land head-up on
the walls is that they use gravity to help their digestion.
What I was wandering is: has anybody ever tried flying mosquitoes in
space to check their behaviour in zero-g?

No --- and why would anyone care? Would it help in eradicating them?
I rather doubt it.

You are obviously not a biologist ;-)

Actually, these days I _am_ a (computational) biologist --- I am one of the
co-authors of the WIT2 and ERGO comparative genomics annotation and analysis
systems.

However, I happen to have a particular detestation of mosquitoes, and would not
cry even a single tear if the entire genus anopheles went extinct, any more than
I would mourn incinerating the last frozen samples of the smallpox virus.
There are some species that _DESERVE_ to be extinct !!! :-[


-- Gordon D. Pusch

perl -e '$_ = \n"; s/NO\.//; s/SPAM\.//; print;'

"Gordon D. Pusch" wrote in message
...
Paolo Ulivi writes:

Recently I was reading that the reason mosquitoes always land head-up on
the walls is that they use gravity to help their digestion.
What I was wandering is: has anybody ever tried flying mosquitoes in
space to check their behaviour in zero-g?

No --- and why would anyone care? Would it help in eradicating them?

Biologists would care because it means the generation of research funds!
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If you have had problems with Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC),
please contact shredder at bellsouth dot net. There may be a class-action
lawsuit
in the works.

Gordon D. Pusch wrote:
Paolo Ulivi writes:

Recently I was reading that the reason mosquitoes always land head-up on
the walls is that they use gravity to help their digestion.
What I was wandering is: has anybody ever tried flying mosquitoes in
space to check their behaviour in zero-g?

No --- and why would anyone care? Would it help in eradicating them?
I rather doubt it.

You lack imagination.
Simply place all the furniture on the ceiling, they'll land upside down,
and not digest right.

--
http://inquisitor.i.am/ | | Ian Stirling.
---------------------------+-------------------------+--------------------------
Acting is merely the art of stopping a large number of people from coughing
- Sir Ralph Richardson

On 08 Oct 2003 04:27:00 -0500, (Gordon D.
Pusch) wrote:

However, I happen to have a particular detestation of mosquitoes, and would not
cry even a single tear if the entire genus anopheles went extinct, any more than
I would mourn incinerating the last frozen samples of the smallpox virus.
There are some species that _DESERVE_ to be extinct !!! :-[

As annoying as they are, mosquitos are one of the major pollenators in
arctic ecosystems. Also are they all bad - a case can be made that
clouds of mosquitos have done more to preserve wilderness areas free
of human interference than any other factor.

Besides, Black Flies are worse - they really hurt.

Cheers
Dale

Might there be some way to use mosquitos as part of the heat shield?

Tom Clarke


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