1451 Mr. Flea

Fleas have been much in the news lately. From their genome, to leaping, to a guy dying of bubonic plague, fleas have scientists itching with curiosity.
By the way, disease control folks are now recommending you don’t sleep with your dog. The equation is simple. Fleas get bubonic plague, fleas get on dogs, dogs get on humans, fleas get on humans, humans get plague.
And I thought you just shouldn’t sleep with rats.
You see, fleas know how to get around. Scientists have recently determined that fleas use their legs like catapults—building up a mass of potential and then firing perfectly. One microsecond delay on one leg or another and the flea could totally shoot off in the wrong direction. It’s that coordination that intrigues scientists most. If they can figure out how it’s done they may be able to build robots who could leap over rough terrain.
And maybe, when we go to other planets, they could jump on 10-story alien dogs…
Like that superhero called The Flea. He shouldn’t have been a joke. The average flea can jump 38 times its body length. That means a 5-foot man would be able to jump 190 feet.
Watch out restless leg syndrome.
And here’s the kicker. We humans have about 23,000 genes in our genome, more jeans than Gloria Vanderbilt had in her closet. The lowly water flea? 31,000, more than any other organism. Scientists think that partially explains why they can shift their shape in response to predators and threats.
Shape-shifting too?
Sounds like we should be the ones feeling threatened. With 8,000 more genes, the ability to leap 38 times their length and the capacity to spread bubonic plague and live to tell the tale, there’s only one word that comes to mind.
Flee.
America, ya gotta love it.