While it may be April Fool's Day, scientists aren't kidding around with a new study showing Skrillex's music is actually one hell of a mosquito repellent.
In a recently published study in Acta Tropica, researchers shared their finding that the dubstep star's 2010 banger "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" was introduced to yellow fever mosquitoes. And believe it or not, the song actually warded off the insects.
"Sound and its reception are crucial for reproduction, survival, and population maintenance of many animals," the scientists explained. "In insects, low-frequency vibrations facilitate sexual interactions, whereas noise disrupts the perception of signals from conspecifics [members of the same species] and hosts."
And here is why Skrillex's track was chosen. Since it contains both extremely high and very low frequencies, scientists thought it a winning candidate to conduct their research.
According to the study, female adult mosquitoes were "entertained" by the track and attacked hosts later and less often than those that lived in a dubstep-free environment.
Scientists said "the occurrence of blood feeding activity was lower when music was being played." They also added that mosquitoes exposed to Skrillex's song had sex "far less often" than mosquitoes that were not — something we doubt is true with humans.
"The observation that such music can delay host attack, reduce blood feeding, and disrupt mating provides new avenues for the development of music-based personal protective and control measures against Aedes-borne diseases," the researchers concluded.
So leave the bug spray at home — "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" is all you need.
In a recently published study in Acta Tropica, researchers shared their finding that the dubstep star's 2010 banger "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" was introduced to yellow fever mosquitoes. And believe it or not, the song actually warded off the insects.
"Sound and its reception are crucial for reproduction, survival, and population maintenance of many animals," the scientists explained. "In insects, low-frequency vibrations facilitate sexual interactions, whereas noise disrupts the perception of signals from conspecifics [members of the same species] and hosts."
And here is why Skrillex's track was chosen. Since it contains both extremely high and very low frequencies, scientists thought it a winning candidate to conduct their research.
According to the study, female adult mosquitoes were "entertained" by the track and attacked hosts later and less often than those that lived in a dubstep-free environment.
Scientists said "the occurrence of blood feeding activity was lower when music was being played." They also added that mosquitoes exposed to Skrillex's song had sex "far less often" than mosquitoes that were not — something we doubt is true with humans.
"The observation that such music can delay host attack, reduce blood feeding, and disrupt mating provides new avenues for the development of music-based personal protective and control measures against Aedes-borne diseases," the researchers concluded.
So leave the bug spray at home — "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" is all you need.
