Explore The
Smelly Socks Project
Are you a mosquito magnet? The Smelly Sock Project is making new discoveries towards the understanding of what attracts a mosquito to a human being. The main attractant? The way you smell.
There are a number of factors that contribute to the process of attracting a mosquito. Primarily, the CO2 you exhale and the perspiration released from your eccrine glands (sweat) are the main contributors to those pesky mosquitos flying around you. Here on the Smelly Socks Project, we use this information with our very own Smell Machine to determine which combinations of these two factors attract the most mosquitos.
How it Works:
1. Starting Chambers
-Where the race begins. Exactly 25 mosquitos are placed in this chamber and await the start of the race when the barrier is removed, and they are able to fly down the race course.
2. Flight Tube
-Within these tubes, the mosquitos fly at a rapid pace toward the attractant. It is here where the mosquitos will begin to choose which sock is more attractive.
3. Decision Chamber
-Here the mosquitos decide which sock they prefer and direct their flight path towards their preference. A combination of how each sock smells and the CO2 passing through the flight tube gives each mosquito what they need to know to make this decision.
4. Stimulus Chambers
-Each chamber holds a different sock. The chamber with the most mosquitos at the end of 2 minutes will be the winner of the race.
Throughout the Smell Machine there is a constant flow of CO2 from the Stimulus Chamber to the Starting Chamber that carries the smell of your smelly socks. This smell attracts the mosquitos through the Flight Tube and eventually to the Decision Chamber. Depending on which sock is more attractive to each individual mosquito, they will choose which chamber they will fly into.
See how your socks stack up in our Smelly Socks World Tournament!
