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science Saturday 9 May 2020
Bug experts dismiss worry about US 'murder hornets' as hype

By SETH BORENSTEIN frankly I'm getting tired of
AP Science Writer it," said University of Dela-
Insect experts say people ware entomologist Doug
should calm down about Tallamy. "Murder hornet?
the big bug with the nick- Please."
name "murder hornet" — Retired University of Mon-
unless you are a beekeep- tana bee expert Jerry Bro-
er or a honeybee. menshenk said in an email,
The Asian giant hornets "One nest, one individual
found in Washington state hornet, hopefully, does not
that grabbed headlines make an invasion. ... Do
this week aren't big killers of we want this hornet — sure-
humans, although it does ly not. But the media hype
happen on rare occasions. is turbo charged."
But the world's largest hor- For bees and the people
nets do decapitate entire who rely on them for a liv-
hives of honeybees, and ing this could be yet anoth-
that crucial food pollinator er massive problem, but it is
is already in big trouble. not one yet.q
Numerous bug experts
told The Associated Press
that what they call hornet
"hype" reminds them of the In this April 23, 2020, photo provided by the Washington State Department of Agriculture, a
1970s public scare when researcher holds a dead Asian giant hornet in Blaine, Wash.
Africanized honeybees, Associated Press
nicknamed "killer bees," two dead hornets were humans," said University of kill a few dozen people a
started moving north from found in Washington last Georgia bee expert Keith year and some experts said
South America. While these December, a lone Canadi- Delaplane. "It's like the Af- it's probably far less.
more aggressive bees did an live nest was found and ricanized bee ... A dozen Hornet, wasp and bee
make it up to Texas and wiped out last September (stings) you are OK; 100 not stings kill on average 62
the Southwest, they didn't and no live hornets have so much." people a year in the United
live up to the horror-movie yet been seen this year. University of Illinois ento- States, according to the
moniker. However, they Looney has a message for mologist May Berenbaum Centers for Disease Control
also do kill people in rare Americans: These hornets said of the worry: "People and Prevention.
situations. are not coming to get you. are afraid of the wrong In Japan, Korea and China,
This time it's hornets with "The number of people thing. The scariest insect "people have co-existed
the homicidal nickname, who are stung and have out there are mosquitoes. with this hornet for thou-
which bug experts want to to seek medical attention is People don't think twice sands of years," said Doug
ditch. incredibly small," he said in about them. If anyone's a Yanega, senior scientist at
"They are not 'murder hor- an interview. murder insect, it would be the University of California
nets.' They are just hornets," While its nickname exag- a mosquito." Riverside Entomology Re-
said Washington Agricul- gerates the human health Mosquitoes are responsible search Museum.
ture Department ento- threat, experts said this hor- for millions of yearly deaths Yet bug experts across the
mologist Chris Looney, who net is especially big — two worldwide from malaria, country are getting wor-
is working on the state's inches long — so it does dengue fever and other ried calls from people who
search for these large hor- carry more and stronger diseases, according to the wrongly think they saw the
nets. toxin. World Health Organization. Asian hornet.
The facts are, experts said, "It's a really nasty sting for Asian giant hornets at most "This is 99% media hype and

Space agency: Human urine could help make concrete on moon

compound in urine, would amount of water nec-
make the mixture for a “lu- essary in the recipe. On
nar concrete” more mal- Earth, urea is used as an in-
leable before it hardens dustrial fertilizer and a raw
into its sturdy final form. material by chemical and
It noted that using only medical companies.
materials available on site “The hope is that astro-
for a moon base or other naut urine could be essen-
construction would re- tially used as it is on a fu-
duce the need to launch ture lunar base, with minor
supplies from Earth. adjustments to the water
The full moon sets behind trees in the Taunus region near The main ingredient in “lu- content,” study co-author
Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, May 7, 2020. nar concrete” would be Marlies Arnhof said in the
Associated Press a powdery soil found on ESA statement.
the moon’s surface known “This is very practical, and
BERLIN (AP) — The Euro- concrete to build on the as lunar regolith. ESA said avoids the need to further
pean Space Agency said moon. The agency said re- urea, which can break complicate the sophisti-
Friday that human urine searchers in a recent study hydrogen bonds and re- cated water recycling sys-
could one day become a it sponsored found that duce the viscosity of fluid tems in space.”q
useful ingredient in making urea, the main organic mixtures, would limit the