Prove arachnos are scared of conkers & earn £300

This is pretty interesting but I'm going to start off with a word of caution: you REALLY don't want to click on the source link for this article that's at the bottom of this post, it's got a picture of an ugly bastard arachno nearly the width of my 1078px monitor, it made me jump out my skin even though I was expecting it.

Trust me on this one - full story copied below, as usual we've substituted the word "arachno" for the "S"-word throughout.

Prove arachnos are scared bonkers by conkers and earn £300
The Royal Society of Chemistry investigates claims conkers repel arachnos
By METRO NEWS REPORTER - Monday, October 5, 2009

An eminent academic society is looking into whether arachnos are scared of conkers.

The research by the Royal Society of Chemistry was sparked by reports from the public that arachnos suffer from 'conkerphobia' when faced with horse chesnuts.

Apparently leaving them on window ledges or near doors deters arachnids from scuttling in.

To try and verify these claims, the RSC is consulting biologists, arachno and insect experts as well as offering £300 to anyone who can provide persuasive evidence.

Members of the public are invited to send in photographic or video evidence to the RSC at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, by 31 October.

One theory being developed by the 46,000-member society is that there might be a chemical in conkers which arachnos hate.

RSC spokesperson John Edwards said: 'We have been told by external contacts that conkers do prevent invasion by arachnos. Apparently, they have to be fairly fresh to have their deterrent effect.

'But there are claims on the web – pardon the pun – that arachnos don't like them at all and steer clear.'

The RSC has also launched a new database service called ChemSiper. It's nothing to do with arachnids, providing free access to a database that contains 22 million chemical structures.

Personally I'll skip the £300 if it means mincing about with our eight-legged enemies, but here's hoping some conclusive answers and maybe improved repellent products come out of this research.

Meanwhile think I'll stock up on conkers anyway, can't do any harm...

Source link - WARNING - outrageously humongous picture of one ugly-arsed arachno at the top of the article: metro.co.uk

Would you be that desperate for £300? Tell us what you think, or whether conkers have worked for you!