Thanks, Chris, James, Caryl It's true emulating a dragon fly's wing beat maybe a bit simplistic or ineffective
>The article probably also fails to mention that peer-reviewed scientific tests of this >concept prove it to be useless. > http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2906666 science is not just a proof of facts, though is it? That's wisdom in a muzzle. "Proof of Concept", yes that's the sort of thing universities are interested in. But a proof one way or the other, does it really matter, if all that does is rearrange the facts and concepts into configurations of what we already know. Better to discern originality from a nearly infinite number of possibilities; "combinations that are especially meaningful useful or beautiful". - Poincare, H. *; )* So the speakers maybe a limit, but sure Caryl I can think of worse things you could try! Testing may even be irrelevant in kHz; this has something to do with the insect's antenna and the wavelength (w) which the insects can tune into. Insect antenna work in a similar way to conductive metal antenna; apparently the wave (w) needs to be able to repeat twice on the length of one antenna for the antenna to be effective. You might get an idea of wave lengths compared to things at this site: http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/ElectroMag.html Imagine that a mosquito's antenna are smaller than the body of a honey bee but kind of comparable, in a scale with buildings and atoms in it. @James >>I've found no >>peer-reviewed tests of low frequency sound, but then I don't know where >>to look. Got any ideas? A Dr. Phillip S Callahan author of *Tuning into Nature *might be a good place to start, I found some interesting science in it, perhaps a bit drowned out of existence and under explored (with all the big money traditionally in corporate ag-chems and insecticide . . . etc ), and not without character. Callahan does presents a blueprint for insect control: but how to eliminate the insecticide and the not suffer the mosquito? Some challenges there both beyond my scope, and present level of understanding. *Tuning into Nature* has some good tables, for example how antenna vibrations effect the reception of pheromones, how insect antenna operate mostly around infrared, and approximate cps for insect antenna groups. As a case study *Tuning into Nature* is more about moths which are at the other end of the spectrum to mosquitoes antenna vibrational frequency (approximately 8-65 cps for moths and 200-500 cps for mosquitoes). >>Other articles on the site mention secrets of ancient geometry and >>crystal harmonizers. This really doesn't impress me. Is there any >>evidence base for repelling mosquitos using low frequency sound? Sorry I don't have much in the way of evidence for you: But I also think I understand your hesitation, I noticed the 'incredible' peripherals on that earlier web site, 'but there is no need to take a trip into dullsville either'! Really though, the more incredible something is and can challenge you to take a creative adventure the less necessary it is that it exists as proof. Ancient geometry is not exactly airy fairy. Is it not just "human math", which is more closely aligned to individual experiences, psychological and physiological preferences and in particular our imaginations? Geometry may seem natural to us as a basis of proportion and shape yet the features of geometry to the ancients also had to dissect the natural world. Arithmetic on the other hand also an ancient form, has probably arisen through the cycles of the seasons and commerce. Neither is an ideal form of mathematics, short of logical communication. . . but with insects and mosquitoes they just wont hear the numbers*. * *; )* Sean
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