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Cats, catnip, and curious chemicals
Episode 836

Cats, catnip, and curious chemicals

A new study shows why cats love silver vine, which is like catnip, with bonus mosquito-repelling properties

Naked Scientists, In Short Special Editions Podcast · The Naked Scientists

January 27, 20213m 5s

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Show Notes

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

Topics

catnipsilver vinewhy cats like catnipwhy cats like silver finenepetalactol and silver vinemasao miyazaki