2023-10-11 12:00:07
To bear the frustration that a problem without a solution brings, there is nothing like looking it in the face to look for something to arouse our curiosity. We often end up finding interesting aspects of the situation, and sometimes even becoming attached to them, as long as they are original or surprising. For example, in summer as in autumn (if we still know when one ends and the other begins), we experience barbecues with mosquitoes, walks in the forest with mosquitoes, romantic sunsets with mosquitoes, in a black and tiger version, particularly adept at avoiding our slaps which too often only reach us.
These unbearable little companions being called upon to spoil our existence later and later in the latter part of the season, scientists have learned to do science by no longer just scratching the top of the head, and in particular have worn their interest in this family of annoying flyers. They discovered a very large number of atypical properties, ranging from their ability to walk on water thanks to their nanostructured legs, to understanding the prowess of this little foaming thing that manages to make holes in our tanned skin, through their ability to effectively detect our hot bodies and CO2 emitters.
For a very long time, however, a problem resisted the curiosity of mosquito physicists, because a quick analysis of orders of magnitude shows that these insects should never be able to fly: wings too narrow, amplitude of movement too small… No offense to us. , the mosquito is nevertheless a true artist of flight, a sort of Canadair who, even filled to the brim with hemoglobin, avoids our slaps with a professionalism that commands respect.
The origin of the unbearable “bzzzz”
This mystery was finally solved a few years ago thanks to fast cameras and to digital simulations. The mosquito’s wing turns out to describe an unusual figure 8 movement, which creates a whirlwind at the front of its wings, which the insect actively captures to pass it to the rear and create a difference in pressure between the top and bottom of them, thereby ensuring the lift of the insect. In a way, the mosquito is constantly riding its own eddies, a bit like a surfer creating his own waves to ride down. We understand that for this movement to be effective, the frequency of the beats must also be very high: between 400 and 800 times per second, which is exactly the origin of the unbearable “bzzzz” which signals the imminence of an attack on our shores.
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