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Anyone who lives in a mosquito heavy area knows that mosquitos (like almost all airborne insects) go into hiding during heavy rain and/or wind.
From an io9 article on the same research: >> [Hu] and Dickerson constructed a flight arena consisting of a small acrylic cage covered with mesh to contain the mosquitoes but permit entry of water drops. The researchers used a water jet to simulate rain stream velocity while observing six mosquitoes flying into the stream. Amazingly, all the mosquitoes lived. The researchers used simulated rain drops on six mosquitoes…
^This I live in a mediterranean zone near a huge lake and during summer mosquitos are your every night companions (specially if you're working during late night hours). But when a summer storm brews the mosquitos disappear for two or three days. Why? This has been for me a recurrent question, and the answer has been always obvious: few of them survive being hit by raindrops. You can make 1000 theories about how our t…
That is not a sensible comparison. When you scale something mass changes as the cube of dimension. Strength changes as the square of dimension. So small things are inherently stronger with respect to their mass.
>A study says a mosquito being hit by a raindrop is roughly the equivalent of a human being whacked by a school bus, the typical bus being about 50 times the mass of a person. That is not a sensible comparison. When you scale something mass changes as the cube of dimension. Strength changes as the square of dimension. So small things are inherently stronger with respect to their mass.
From an io9 article on the same research: >> [Hu] and Dickerson constructed a flight arena consisting of a small acrylic cage covered with mesh to contain the mosquitoes but permit entry of water drops. The researchers used a water jet to simulate rain stream velocity while observing six mosquitoes flying into the stream. Amazingly, all the mosquitoes lived. The researchers used simulated rain drops on six mosquitoes…
I'm guessing it still sucks for them.
>A study says a mosquito being hit by a raindrop is roughly the equivalent of a human being whacked by a school bus, the typical bus being about 50 times the mass of a person. That is not a sensible comparison. When you scale something mass changes as the cube of dimension. Strength changes as the square of dimension. So small things are inherently stronger with respect to their mass.
Very believable; how does the math work out?
> But because our mosquito is oh-so-light, the raindrop moves on, unimpeded, and hardly any force is transferred. So if the mosquito's weight is insignificant compared to that of the heavier and denser water drop and that's what keeps it from having the force transferred, would this equally apply to hailstorms? (Where our mosquitoes are pelted by small hail balls the size of raindrops)
You don't really find mosquitoes where you're likely to find hailstorms.
[1] http://www.accuweather.com/en/features/trend/hail-or-sleet-h...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In Spain we definitely have mosquitos, and most Augusts we have these summery storms, sometimes bringing also hailstorms (sizze varies though between drop sized ice and golfball sized ice)
You find them in these areas. When it gets cold there tends to be far fewer of them. And compared to the equators its nearly incomparible.
>A study says a mosquito being hit by a raindrop is roughly the equivalent of a human being whacked by a school bus, the typical bus being about 50 times the mass of a person. That is not a sensible comparison. When you scale something mass changes as the cube of dimension. Strength changes as the square of dimension. So small things are inherently stronger with respect to their mass.
[Citation Wanted] Very believable; how does the math work out?
It's known as the square-cube law.