Aeon Video has a monthly newsletter!
Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
What makes mosquitoes so good at getting under our skin?
Mosquitoes kill more than a million people every year by transmitting diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, making the insects the animal kingdom’s most prolific killer of humans by a wide margin. But what makes them so good at getting through our skin to access our bloodstream? Part of KQED’s science documentary series Deep Look, this short video offers a close-up of how female mosquitoes use a sophisticated set of evolutionary tools – essentially, six ultra-sharp needles – to pierce our skin and suck our blood.
Video by KQED Science and PBS Digital Studios
Producer: Gabriela Quirós
Narrator and Writer: Amy Standen
video
Illness and disease
Humanity eradicated smallpox 45 years ago. It’s a story worth remembering
25 minutes
video
Animals and humans
One man’s quest to save an orphaned squirrel, as narrated by David Attenborough
14 minutes
video
Biology
Butterflies become unrecognisable landscapes when viewed under electron microscopes
4 minutes
video
Cognition and intelligence
A father forgets his child’s name for the first time in this poetic reflection on memory
4 minutes
video
Biology
‘Save the parasites’ may not be a popular rallying cry – but it could be a vital one
11 minutes
video
Evolution
The many ways a lizard tongue sticks, grasps, pinches and plops – in slo-mo
6 minutes
video
Biology
Starlings swoosh like brushstrokes across the sky in this dazzling short
3 minutes
video
Ecology and environmental sciences
The tree frog die-off that sparked a global mystery – and revealed a dark truth
15 minutes
video
Ecology and environmental sciences
GPS tracking reveals stunning insights into the patterns of migratory birds
6 minutes