{"id":29937,"date":"2021-03-26T08:07:15","date_gmt":"2021-03-26T15:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/?p=29937"},"modified":"2021-03-26T08:08:41","modified_gmt":"2021-03-26T15:08:41","slug":"plagues-be-gone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/?p=29937","title":{"rendered":"Plagues Be Gone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As we enter Passover I am fondly remembering the glee with which the kids recited the 10 plagues at the annual Seder table. That part of the service is accompanied by dipping your finger into red wine and, if you’re 8 years old, wildly flinging the drops across the table instead of gently letting them fall onto your plate. Washer women (well, people) of the world unite! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Remembering the plagues that befell the Egyptians who held the Israelites in slavery – water turning to blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness and the killing of firstborn children – is an important part of Jewish tradition, mindful of suffering and existential threat across history, as well as the belief that G-d’s protection will eventually come through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was reminded of the plagues when I ran across new research<\/a> that claims to affect the breeding and feeding behavior of disease-transmitting mosquitos, by blasting them with techno music. Apparently the dub beats interfere with wing beat synchronisation of the mating couples necessary for success. Wouldn’t that be a grand alternative to chemical eradication? The video in the link above shows the lab work, short and fascinating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Do those plague narratives, faithfully handed down from generation to generation, have any grounding in fact? Archeological research<\/a> offers some options. <\/p>\n\n\n\n