The weekly newsletter for Fed2 by ibgames

EARTHDATE: October 28, 2007

Official News page 9


REAL LIFE NEWS: ANOTHER REASON WHY HOUSEWORK IS A BAD THING

by Hazed

Do you make your bed every day? Or do you just leave the bedding thrown back, all higgledy-piggedly? If you're the kind of lazy slob who goes for the unmade method, then you may be healthier than your more tidy counterpart. That's because scientists have now discovered that dustmites - which cause asthma and other allergies - cannot survive in the warm, dry conditions found in an unmade bed.

What dustmites love is the warm moistness of the bed when you are in it. When you get out of the bed, making it by tucking the bedclothes in tidily preserves that dampness so the little horrors can thrive. On the other hand, leaving the bedclothes on the floor allows the bed to dry out which the mites don't like so much.

Researcher Dr Stephen Pretlove, from the team at Kingston University which made this discovery, said "We know that mites can only survive by taking in water from the atmosphere using small glands on the outside of their body. Something as simple as leaving a bed unmade during the day can remove moisture from the sheets and mattress so the mites will dehydrate and eventually die.

Yes! Die, foul creature, die!

In the next stage of their research, scientists planned to put mite pockets into beds in 36 hourses around the UK to test their computer model. Oh yuk. They'd better not try to do that to my bed! They want to monitor how people's daily routines affect mite populations; heating, ventilation and insulation will also be altered to monitor how the mites cope.

To read more about Kingston University's research read this article on their web site. There's also a picture of a dustmite. It looks like something alien that is about to suck out your brains!

And yes, this research is two and a half years old, but I only just found out about it. Not exactly cutting edge news, but it's still interesting.


Fed2 Star index Previous issues Fed 2 home page