• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Chickens vs. Malaria

Chickens vs. Malaria

August 4, 2016
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/160804_sciup_chicken.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

10902510403_e75701c613_k Rod Waddington CC BY-SA 2.0, via flickr, cropped
Livestock in Konso Village, Ethiopia. (Rod Waddington CC BY-SA 2.0, via flickr, cropped)

BOB HIRSHON (host):

Chickens vs. malaria. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

Malaria remains one of the most deadly diseases on the planet today. But it may have a formidible enemy: the chicken. Researchers report in Malaria Journal that the birds are a big turn off for Anopheles arabiensis, a malarial mosquito that’s gaining ground in Africa. Swedish University of Agricultural Science’s Rickard Ignell and his colleagues studied its feeding patterns.

RICKARD IGNELL (Swedish University of Agricultural Science):

The malaria mosquitoes were feeding on humans when we found them indoors and cattle when we found them outdoors, but never chicken.

HIRSHON:

Ignell says the insects likely view the birds as a threat. He and his colleagues identified four odor compounds in chicken feathers that successfully repelled mosquitoes away from sleeping volunteers. When used in combination with other methods, the compounds could be an effective way to deter mosquitoes from large areas. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.

LEARN MORE

Story by Susanne Bard

Category: Daily Show, Station DownloadTag: Biology, Medicine & Health
Previous Post:Smoke Resistance
Next Post:Teen Brains

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Mayan Honeybee hives
House sparrow wearing top hat rides aboard a red fireworks rocket

Copyright © 2023 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos