Eco-Friendly White Whale Takes Props

As any car owner knows, automobiles sometimes attract
aquatic insects, like mayflies. The insects mistake the shiny car surface
for water and try to lay their eggs on it.

In The Proceedings
of The Royal Society B, published online, Gyorgy Kriska
and three other Hungarian scientists ask which colors the bugs like,
and "considering water insect protection in wetland habitats, we
discuss the question: what is the environmentally friendly color of cars?"

Using shiny plastic sheets in different colors, the researchers tested
previous observations that insects are attracted to red and to dark colors.

The insects much preferred the red and the black, and the reason, the
authors say, is that the light reflected from the dark surfaces is highly
polarized and reflected in a horizontal direction just like water.

Light from the yellow and the white cars was less polarized and less
horizontally reflected.
The authors recommend light-colored cars for visitors to wetland habitats.
But even better, they say, are dirty cars, which don’t fool the insects
at all.

"Thus," the authors conclude, "the most environmentally
friendly car would be one that never gets washed."

It would save on water, too.

from the New York Times

These researchers might want to discuss the question of
what is the academically friendly grammar of the English language….