I've got parasites on my eyelashes - and so have you!

[Tapioca Dextrin]

Did you know that we've all got tiny mites living on our eyelashes" (http://www.onjoph.com/english/demodex-body.html)? Is this the grossest thing ever? How come they never told us this at school? Cecil, if you read this, please inform the rest of the world as soon as you've plucked yourself clean of these horrors!

[Zenster]

These particular parasites even have a physical form factor that allows them to avoid stimulating our nerve endings.

[friedo]

Originally posted by Colin Wilkinson
Did you know that we've all got tiny mites living on our eyelashes" (http://www.onjoph.com/english/demodex-body.html)? Is this the grossest thing ever? How come they never told us this at school?

No. Yes. Probably because they didn't know it, either.

I assume this General Question has now been adequately answered.

[Chronos]

What, exactly, is the question here?

[Tapioca Dextrin]

a) do people know about it?
b) are they worried about it?
c) is it a good idea for a column?

[ElwoodCuse]

On MST3K once at the beginning of the show, Mike had the Nannites wage war on his eyebrows (at the bots insistence) to wipe out the pests. The nannites were horribly slaughtered.

[Satan]

I knew about them. I also know about cheese mites and those things that live in even the cleanest bed sheets.

I don't care. If they are so small I wouldn't even know they were there without a microscope, why worry about them just because someone can see them with a microscope?

What column would be done on this?

This is not a General Question, IMHO. Actually, it's probably MPSIMS - maybe the definition of it, actually...
__________________
Yer pal,
Satan (http://www.members.tripod.com/jmspoofe/sdmb/satan.jpg)

TIME ELAPSED SINCE I QUIT SMOKING:
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David B used me as a cite!

[Purd Werfect]

Sorry for the hijack, but an excellent book which talks about all sorts of stuff like this is "The Secret House" by David Bodanis. Fun reading about the unsuspected grossness of day to day living.

[Tapioca Dextrin]

faintly praised by Satan himself :cool:

cheese mites CHEESE MITES CHEESE MITES

:runs from room, avoiding fridge:

[Bob Scene]

I've plucked out a couple of my eyelashes and put them in an electron microscope to look for these bugs, but I could never see them. I wonder what I'm doing wrong.

[Phobos]

Originally posted by Colin Wilkinson
a) do people know about it?
b) are they worried about it?
c) is it a good idea for a column?

a) I seem to recall a documentary (Discovey Channel?) about the microscopic world. They discussed these little dudes as well as the mites living on our skin...and in our bedsheets...and in our clothes...etc.

b) Some people are creeped out. Some don't care.

c) Sure (IMHO)

[Rhythmdvl]

Well, it is ten o'clock and this is still in GQ, here goes:

What did Zenster mean when he said that they "even have a physical form factor that allows them to avoid stimulating our nerve endings."? Are these little AT or ATX bugs running about on our eyes? What does form factor mean in terms of biology? Is it a fancy-schmancy way of saying shape? Was it a more intelligent way of saying, "These critters (criterious eylasheous) are too small too be felt by your eyes."? Or is there some deeper meaning that goes beyond simply being small?

[RainbowDragon]

Once a vacuum cleaner salesperson came to our house (with the idea that after a demonstration we would get free kitchen knives). The salesperson made a point of telling us the ins and outs of the dust mite world. His aim was clear, freak us out that we had bugs in our house. Of course he stated that his wondrous machine would pick the little critters up and out of our way.

The fact was even with his machine, we would still have dust mites. We will always have dust mites. Still I take my vacuum cleaner over the bed. I know they’ll be back.

A comedian named Heywood Banks makes a cute little song about dust mites and the fact they munch skin like nacho chips under your bed.

What I would like to know is if the mites could serve any beneficial purpose? Is it a good thing that these little critters take away our dead skin?

[handy]

Do they make mite food? Id like to feed them, they are probably pretty hungry.

[yabob]

Do they make mite food? Id like to feed them, ...

Don't worry, you are.

[sailor]

National Geographic Magazine had an article about these critters. You can search at
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/publications/explore.html

[Spoke]

Dunno about the eyelash mites, but Cecil did write a column on dust mites (http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000407.html).

[panamajack]

And if the conversation's moved to dust mites, it's clear Cecil has heard about them :

Does a mattress double its weight due to dust mites, etc.? (http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000407.html)

I'll second that The Secret House is a great book on this. I believe David Bodanis has also written a book called The Secret Garden, in which a young girl's eyelashes bring a parasite back to health, but I haven't read it.

[panamajack]

Yeah, what spoke said.