{"133841":{"#nid":"133841","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Mosquitoes Fly in Rain Thanks to Low Mass","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe mosquito is possibly summer\u2019s biggest nuisance. Sprays, pesticides, citronella candles, bug zappers \u2014 nothing seems to totally deter the blood-sucking insect. And neither can rain apparently.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEven though a single raindrop can weigh 50 times more than a mosquito, the insect is still able to fly through a downpour.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers used high-speed videography to determine how this is possible. They found the mosquito\u2019s strong exoskeleton and low mass render it impervious to falling raindrops.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team, led by Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Biology David Hu and his doctoral student Andrew Dickerson, found that mosquitoes receive low impact forces from raindrops because the mass of mosquitoes causes raindrops to lose little momentum upon impact. The results of the research will appear in the June 4 issue of the \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe most surprising part of this project was seeing the robustness this small flyer has in the rain,\u201d Dickerson said. \u201cIf you were to scale up the impact to human size, we would not survive. It would be like standing in the road and getting hit by a car.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat the researchers learned about mosquito flight could be used to enhance the design and features of micro-airborne vehicles, which are increasingly being used by law enforcement and the military in surveillance and search-and-rescue operations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo study how mosquitoes fly in the rain, the research team constructed a flight arena consisting of a small acrylic cage covered with mesh to contain the mosquitoes but permit entry of water drops. They used a water jet to simulate rain stream velocity and observed six mosquitoes flying into the stream. All the mosquitoes survived the collision.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe collision force must equal the resistance applied by the insect,\u201d Hu said. \u201cMosquitoes don\u2019t resist at all, but simply go with the flow.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team also filmed free-flying mosquitoes that were subjected to rain drops. They found that upon impact the mosquito is adhered to the front of the drop for up to 20 body lengths. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTo survive, the mosquito must eventually separate from the front of the drop,\u201d Hu said. \u201cThe mosquito accomplishes this by using its long legs and wings, whose drag forces act to rotate the mosquito off the point of contact. This is necessary, otherwise the mosquito will be thrown into the ground at the speed of a falling raindrop.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers used high-speed videography to determine the mosquito\u2019s strong exoskeleton and low mass render it impervious to falling raindrops.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Mosquitoes receive low impact forces from raindrops because the mass of mosquitoes causes raindrops to lose little momentum upon impact."}],"uid":"27462","created_gmt":"2012-06-04 14:50:06","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:22","author":"Liz Klipp","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-06-04T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-06-04T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"133851":{"id":"133851","type":"image","title":"Mosquitoes Fly in Rain - 1","body":null,"created":"1449178671","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:37:51","changed":"1475894763","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:03","alt":"Mosquitoes Fly in Rain - 1","file":{"fid":"194750","name":"mosquito1.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mosquito1_0.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mosquito1_0.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4289785,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mosquito1_0.jpeg?itok=_4CJzWbp"}},"133861":{"id":"133861","type":"image","title":"Mosquitoes Fly in Rain - 2","body":null,"created":"1449178671","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:37:51","changed":"1475894763","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:03","alt":"Mosquitoes Fly in Rain - 2","file":{"fid":"194751","name":"mosquito2.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mosquito2_0.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mosquito2_0.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3962575,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mosquito2_0.jpeg?itok=0ompg0M5"}},"133871":{"id":"133871","type":"image","title":"Mosquitoes Fly in Rain - 3","body":null,"created":"1449178671","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:37:51","changed":"1475894763","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:03","alt":"Mosquitoes Fly in Rain - 3","file":{"fid":"194752","name":"mostquito3.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mostquito3_0.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mostquito3_0.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3920428,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mostquito3_0.jpeg?itok=aPFYYFWV"}}},"media_ids":["133851","133861","133871"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/early\/2012\/05\/25\/1205446109.abstract?sid=f7148cfd-1cac-4395-add4-97f6b7c0aca9","title":"PNAS article"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"35121","name":"Andrew Dickerson"},{"id":"297","name":"David Hu"},{"id":"28981","name":"flying"},{"id":"35131","name":"mosquitoes"},{"id":"35141","name":"rain"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["klipp@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}