Cats, catnip, and curious chemicals

Published: Jan. 27, 2021, 3:19 a.m.

b'You\'ve probably heard of catnip, which makes cats go crazy. There\'s also another plant called silver vine, which has a similar effect. Now scientists have been nailing down what in silver vine makes cats so excited, but also a surprising bonus effect of the chemical - it makes an effective mosquito repellent! Eva Higginbotham heard how from lead author on the study Masau Miyazaki from Iwate University, which has just been published in the journal Science Advances...Ref: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/4/eabd9135 Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists'