Why it's so hard to make a better mosquito repellent

[OtherMichael]

Is she doing anything this summer?

[OtherMichael]

with my one friend

Saddest. Post. Evar.

[anon29631895]

@csilvest

Sorta related… local central Ontario mosquitos cause me some distress (moderate swelly and reddening at the bite, mild itching). But when I was bitten in northern Venezuela, the itch was almost unbearable, but similar swelling and reddening. I figure my immune system was more effective against what I had grown up with; something in the Venezuelan mosquito got through the inch defences.

I barely react no matter where in the world the mosquito bite occurred (which is odd since my body seems to over-react to everything). My wife experiences very bad reactions to all mosquito bites – they get very large, up to 5 cm diameter, and will leave a scar for a month. She has learned to keep an ammonia stick handy whenever in mosquito country (or to seek out the next best solution).

[anon29631895]

Would you like to book an appearance?

[some_guy]

@timstellmach

water will melt the shit out of sugar

Maybe instead of comparing something that melts plastic with something that melts sugar, you compare it with something else that melts plastic: acetone, toluene, benzene, ketones.

[shaddack]

@some_guy

Maybe instead of comparing something that melts plastic with something that melts sugar, you compare it with something else that melts plastic: acetone, toluene, benzene, ketones.

A solvent is a solvent is a solvent. The mechanism of solvation of macromolecules of the plastics is substantially the same as the mechanism of solvation of sugar molecules on the water-sugar interface.

If the solvent can interact strongly enough with the solid (so the solid-solvent interaction yields lower energy than the solid-solid one), and can penetrate its structure, it will dissolve it, or at least swell it (if the solid is of macromolecular nature).

[spazmodius93]

That would be pretty dang funny.

[nungesser]

What mosquitos are attracted to / repelled by is a weird complex science; when I go camping, my friends and I will coat ourselves in Off! and DEET and use citronella, but I can stand there in the woods and not get a single bite while one of my friends has the little fckers swarming all over him, right next to me.

That said, I understand that Disney World uses carbon dioxide traps to great effect to keep their Florida parks clear of mosquitos, which is a handy trick, seeing as how they’re in the middle of swampland.

[ChickieD]

I counter your anecdote with mine. I was a vegetarian for 15 years and the mosquitoes love my ass.

Are You a Mosquito Magnet?

[some_guy]

@shaddack

A solvent is a solvent is a solvent

But is that the issue here?

I present to you a glass of water, and a glass of DEET, which one will you drink?

Hey, I use DEET, I think it’s pretty safe (or at least preferable to being swarmed by bugs), but I wouldn’t shower with it, nor would I shower with paint thinner.

[ChickieD]

Every time mosquito repellent comes up online, there are people who will insist that their essential oil combo or natural herb thing is better than DEET. These people have never watched a previously healthy person become delusional after contracting viral meningitis. I have. People, use DEET. Please. Mosquitoes carry some bad shit.

[shaddack]

@ChickieD

Every time mosquito repellent comes up online, there are people who will insist that their essential oil combo or natural herb thing is better than DEET. These people have never watched a previously healthy person become delusional after contracting viral meningitis.

Maybe they became delusional, and THEN started to believe in the efficiency of their concoction.

[anon67050589]

I have a little spiel I go into every time one of my kids wants to bring a friend for the first time to my dad’s in Indiana. I let the parents know (yes, even for teenagers…can’t be too careful these days) that we use DEET unapologetically there, and if they don’t want that they need to bring their own alternative. Humans are not the dominant life force in non-(sub)urban areas, but our blood is happily used to fuel it.

[renke]

that’s the meaning and background of ‘cover your ass’, I always wondered about this one