Mosquito Bites Don’t Hurt

Have you ever felt the prick from a needle when you when you were given a shot for a vaccination, had blood taken for analysis, or given anesthesia? Even if you know it will just be for an instant, the moment in which you get pricked by the needle is unpleasant. Why is it, then, that we do not also feel it when we are bitten by a mosquito? The secret is in the shape of the mosquito’s “needle,” its mouth. The needle is made up of a smooth material called chitin, is extremely thin at only 80 micrometers (8/100mm!), and has a tip that is jagged like a saw. This needle does not pierce the skin, but rather undulates, pushing aside skin and muscle cells, gnawing as it cuts through. The needle itself is very fine, and its tip is jagged, so it has only minimal contact with the skin, minimizing friction. In this way, mosquitos can bite and suck blood from humans and animals without them noticing.

Efficiency(Energy Saving, Resource Saving, Light):: Bite/sting

Other

People must take daily injections of insulin to treat diabetes. If a needle was developed that was not painful, patients would be relieved of the psychological stress of the injections. And for small children who have to get many vaccinations, this might keep them from being afraid of or hurt by needles.

Query	Affected	Num. rows	Took (ms)	Actions
SELECT `Content`.`id`, `Content`.`user_id`, `Content`.`last_edit_user_id`, `Content`.`post_date`, `Content`.`post_date_year`, `Content`.`post_date_month`, `Content`.`post_date_day`, `Content`.`title`, `Content`.`title_en`, `Content`.`content`, `Content`.`plain_content`, `Content`.`page_view`, `Content`.`flag`, `Content`.`mod_count`, `Content`.`created`, `Content`.`modified` FROM `contents` AS `Content` WHERE `id` = 142 LIMIT 1	1	1	0
SELECT `Attachment`.`file_name`, `Attachment`.`dir`, `Attachment`.`model`, `Attachment`.`foreign_key` FROM `attachments` AS `Attachment` WHERE `file_name` <> 'default.jpg' AND `Attachment`.`foreign_key` = (142)	3	3	0
SELECT `ContentsRelatedItem`.`content`, `ContentsRelatedItem`.`related_item_id`, `ContentsRelatedItem`.`content_id` FROM `contents_related_items` AS `ContentsRelatedItem` WHERE `ContentsRelatedItem`.`content_id` = (142)	11	11	0
SELECT `RelatedItem`.`code`, `RelatedItem`.`name` FROM `related_items` AS `RelatedItem` WHERE `RelatedItem`.`id` = 1	1	1	0
SELECT `RelatedItem`.`code`, `RelatedItem`.`name` FROM `related_items` AS `RelatedItem` WHERE `RelatedItem`.`id` = 2	1	1	8	maybe slow
SELECT `RelatedItem`.`code`, `RelatedItem`.`name` FROM `related_items` AS `RelatedItem` WHERE `RelatedItem`.`id` = 4	1	1	0
SELECT `RelatedItem`.`code`, `RelatedItem`.`name` FROM `related_items` AS `RelatedItem` WHERE `RelatedItem`.`id` = 6	1	1	0
SELECT `RelatedItem`.`code`, `RelatedItem`.`name` FROM `related_items` AS `RelatedItem` WHERE `RelatedItem`.`id` = 7	1	1	0
SELECT `RelatedItem`.`code`, `RelatedItem`.`name` FROM `related_items` AS `RelatedItem` WHERE `RelatedItem`.`id` = 8	1	1	0
SELECT `RelatedItem`.`code`, `RelatedItem`.`name` FROM `related_items` AS `RelatedItem` WHERE `RelatedItem`.`id` = 9	1	1	0
SELECT `RelatedItem`.`code`, `RelatedItem`.`name` FROM `related_items` AS `RelatedItem` WHERE `RelatedItem`.`id` = 9	1	1	0
SELECT `RelatedItem`.`code`, `RelatedItem`.`name` FROM `related_items` AS `RelatedItem` WHERE `RelatedItem`.`id` = 9	1	1	0
SELECT `RelatedItem`.`code`, `RelatedItem`.`name` FROM `related_items` AS `RelatedItem` WHERE `RelatedItem`.`id` = 11	1	1	0
SELECT `RelatedItem`.`code`, `RelatedItem`.`name` FROM `related_items` AS `RelatedItem` WHERE `RelatedItem`.`id` = 12	1	1	0
SELECT `ContentsTag`.`id`, `ContentsTag`.`tag_group_id`, `ContentsTag`.`mod_count`, `ContentsTag`.`tag_id`, `ContentsTag`.`content_id` FROM `contents_tags` AS `ContentsTag` WHERE `ContentsTag`.`content_id` = (142)	2	2	0
SELECT `Tag`.`name`, `Tag`.`comment`, `Tag`.`tag_group_id` FROM `tags` AS `Tag` WHERE `Tag`.`id` = 59	1	1	0
SELECT `TagGroup`.`code`, `TagGroup`.`name` FROM `tag_groups` AS `TagGroup` WHERE `TagGroup`.`id` = 5	1	1	0
SELECT `Tag`.`name`, `Tag`.`comment`, `Tag`.`tag_group_id` FROM `tags` AS `Tag` WHERE `Tag`.`id` = 175	1	1	0
SELECT `TagGroup`.`code`, `TagGroup`.`name` FROM `tag_groups` AS `TagGroup` WHERE `TagGroup`.`id` = 7	1	1	0
SELECT `RelatedItem`.`id`, `RelatedItem`.`code`, `RelatedItem`.`name`, `RelatedItem`.`created`, `RelatedItem`.`modified`, `RelatedItem`.`flag` FROM `related_items` AS `RelatedItem` WHERE `code` = 'function' LIMIT 1	1	1	0
SELECT `Content`.`id`, `Content`.`title`, `Content`.`title_en` FROM `contents` AS `Content` WHERE id = (NULL) ORDER BY `id` desc	0	0	0

Message	Memory use
Component intitailization	6.76 MB
Controller action start	6.81 MB
Controller render start	6.89 MB
View render complete	7.91 MB

Message	Time in ms	Graph
Core Processing (Derived)	233.78
Component initialization and startup	19.59
Controller action	51.09
Render Controller Action	74.03
» Rendering View	62.52
» » Rendering APP/views/contents/view.ctp	32.63
» » Rendering APP/views/layouts/default.ctp	27.55
» » » Rendering APP/views/elements/header.ctp	10.15
» » » Rendering APP/views/elements/content_sidebar.ctp	0.51
» » » Rendering APP/views/elements/footer.ctp	0.46

Mosquito Bites Don’t Hurt

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