That Eric Alper

Do we really know what the appeal of an expensive car is? It probably has a lot to do with comfort, speed, reliability, longevity and all of the other benefits that you can expect from paying more for your motor.

But let’s not dance around the truth here. There’s a materialistic element to it on top of all of that stuff. It might sound like it’s a little shallow but a touch of materialism isn’t necessarily a bad thing. 

Like when you see an expensive car, it kind of makes you admire the person driving it because they’ve probably worked hard to get there. It’s also possible that they’re a trust fund baby but still, we take notice of wealth for a reason.

Those people are living comfortable lives and we know that we can live comfortable lives too if we are willing to put in the work. So a nice car is a symbol of wealth, and it’s also a symbol of contentment.

This is definitely not to say that everyone who’s rich is content but financial trouble is a big source of stress and misery so it definitely doesn’t hurt. So why don’t we have a little look at what celebrities are driving, the stars cars if you will.

Maybe this will give you a bit of motivation to start working towards a position where you can also afford one of these. And if you don’t necessarily make it that high, working hard isn’t going to do you any financial harm. 

What’s worth noting (and what’s not terribly surprising) about this is that most celebrities do tend to buy over leasing. Of course, not everyone is in a position to do that and leasing is a perfectly acceptable option if that’s what your budget allows.

But it’s much better to actually own your vehicle, it takes away a lot of the stress and complications and that’s reflected by the decisions made by those who can afford it. Anyway, here’s what a few of the world’s biggest stars are driving:

Leonardo DiCaprio (Fisker Karma EV Speedster)

Starting off with one of the biggest movie stars in the world, Leonardo Dicaprio’s attitude towards cars and how much money he pumps into his own is focused on more than just his desire for a comfortable and stylish car.

Noteworthy for being the top-billed actor in almost all of his films and churning out incredible performance after incredible performance, DiCaprio is also known for being one of the most outspoken environmental activists in Hollywood. 

And this is reflected in his choice of car. In 2012, DiCaprio invested in Fisker, a company that was dedicated to producing reliable and eco-friendly hybrids and then bought one of their signature models for almost $500,000. 

Fisker has since gone out of business but DiCaprio still drives this hybrid, which is a reflection of his personal values when it comes to his road presence and also the reliability of Fisker’s vehicles. 

Jay-Z (Maybach Exelero)

Jay-Z is an artist known for his uniqueness and his innovation, and so a unique and innovative car is obviously going to be his first choice. This car is so unique that there was literally one line of it produced.

With that level of exclusivity comes a high price tag. We’re talking $8,000,000 high. But it’s not just the exclusivity, when you look into the inner-workings of this car you can see the case for such an exorbitant price. 

A V12 twin-turbo engine that produces 725 pounds of torque and is capable of reaching top speeds of about over 200 miles an hour. Alloy wheels and an anti lock braking system (ABS) and then a red leather interior to cap it all off. 

An extravagant car for an extravagant artist.

Dwayne Johnson (Pagani Huayra)

The Rock is a big dude and so you would think that he’d have a big car. Well he kind of doesn’t. This thing isn’t exactly tiny but it definitely doesn’t look like something that Dwayne freakin’ Johnson would fit into. 

He does fit into it though, even though it takes him like a whole minute to get out. But here’s the thing about this care and about The Rock. While he is very clearly a kind, considerate and inspiring human being, he is also a businessman.

And ever since he appeared on WWE television for the first time in the mid-90s, he has understood the importance of promotion and marketing to be successful. And the logic behind this car is promotional in nature.

Johnson’s first major television starring role is in a show called Ballers, in which he plays a massively successful sports promoter. And so when he showed up to the premiere of the show in this supercar, it made a lot of sense. 

Johnson knows what he’s doing, and he knows how to utilize every aspect of his life (cars included) to bolster his success. 

Wayne Rooney (BMW i8)

Those of you who aren’t in Europe and aren’t massive soccer fans may not be familiar with this name, but he’s one of the biggest names in soccer, one of the most talented players in the world and has been for almost 20 years.

Being that it’s the most popular sport on the planet, soccer players are some of the most highly-paid people in the world so it stands to reason that they would have some extremely expensive motors.

Rooney has had a few different ones over the years but perhaps none more noteworthy than the now discontinued BMW i8. This car looks like something out of the future and in a way that’s kind of exactly what it is.

The i8 was representative of a future where all cars are committed to sustainability. One of the most economical hybrids at the time, the i8 was revolutionary and when Rooney eventually parted ways with his it went for almost £65,000.

So overall, these celebrities, and many others, aren’t frugal when spending money on their cars. But it’s all in the name of things like comfort, business and even the environment. And you might say they don’t need to spend that much, but wouldn’t it be nice to have that freedom?

To be able to comfortably own whatever kind of car you wanted and not have to worry about leasing? It’s unlikely that most of us will ever reach this level, but maybe we can get to that place of comfort too if we work on it.

It’s easy to move and dance to the rhythm of your favorite song because you can hear it. After all, it would be hard for you to dance to a rhythm you can’t hear. But have you ever thought to ask yourself if insects hear your music too? I mean, dogs and cats hear music. They recognize music. You might even catch your dog dancing if you are lucky. 

But insects. Do they hear music? Do they even hear sounds? And if they recognize music, does it attract them or repel them? And oh! Maybe they have favorite songs too!

If you have questions similar to those your answers are here. Read on.

Can Insects Hear Sound?

To answer this question, you have to know what sounds are. Sounds are nothing more than vibrations that pass through the air. So when we say we “hear”, what we are saying is that we have organs that can help us decode the vibrations that are being transmitted through the air. So, as long as you have organs that can decode sound vibrations in the air and give meaning to them, you can “hear.”

Just like you, insects have organs that can pick up these vibrations and interpret them. However, you may not always hear what they hear, because these organs have a frequency range that they can pick and decode. 

So, yeah. Insects do hear.

How Do They Hear?

Insects have four different types of organs that help them hear. They are tympanal organs, Johnston’s organs, setae, and libral pilifer.

The tympanal organs exist in pairs on some insects. These organs vibrate when sound waves hit them. These organs function in almost the same way as human eardrums. They comprise a membrane that stretches tightly over the frame of an air cavity. 

Every insect that has tympanal organs also has chordotonal organs that can convert the vibrations into nerve impulses. Butterflies, crickets, cicadas, and moths are examples of insects with tympanal organs.

Johnston’s Organ is a group of sensory cells that are located around the base of the antennae of an insect. What they do is to detect the vibrations from the segments of antenna above them. Fruit flies, honey bees (these need special attention when it comes to removal of their nest, they’re protected by law), and mosquitos are the insects that have these organs. But can you repel them using only sounds? Read on to find out. 

Setae are little still hairs on the bodies of some insects. These hairs are there to sense vibrations and every insect has a way of reacting to whatever vibration it senses on its setae. Butterflies, crickets, moths, and grasshoppers are examples of insects that possess setae.

Libral pilifer is a hearing organ that is found in hawkmoths. It enables the insects to hear ultrasonic sounds. Libral pilifer senses vibrations in the air at the same frequency as echolocating bats. That is how the insects can escape bats.

So, now you know that insects can hear, the next question is if they can hear music.

Can Insects Tell Music Apart?

It only makes sense that if insects can be attracted or repelled by the sound of music, they should be able to first recognize it. Even if they don’t “hear” it the way we do, music should at least set off some sort of unique reactions in them. Only then can we say that they can tell music apart from other sounds.

To answer this question, I will refer to a study that was carried out by researchers in Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, and Indonesia. According to their research, electronic dance music repelled mosquitoes. The researchers carried out this research on two groups of yellow fever mosquitos, the species of mosquitoes that are responsible for dengue fever and the Zika virus. The researchers played a song by DJ Skrillex nonstop for the first group of mosquitoes. The second group had no music.

After a while, the researchers discovered that the music-entertained mosquitoes mated less. The females among them attacked their hosts less and they fed on blood less often.

Although this research has a lot of prospects, there are a few questions that come to mind. For the study, the researchers used only one genre of music, electronic dance; and they used only one song, “Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites”. What happens if you use pop music or reggae?

As a result, we can’t say conclusively that mosquitoes, or insects, can tell music apart from other sounds. 

Does Music Attract Or Repel Them?

Now you may say, “well, those mosquitoes sure did know to not bite or mate when they listened to Skrillex’s songs, so music repels them!” But the head of the Department of Disease Control of London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Professor James Logan, had something to say. He said, “There certainly is evidence that mosquitoes can hear and that you can manipulate behavior through sound”. 

We already discussed how mosquitoes use Johnston’s organ to hear. But Professor James had more to say about entertaining mosquitoes with music with the hope that it repels them. He argued that using music as mosquito repellent is impractical. “There’s no way that you could use this level of noise in a situation to repel mosquitoes,” he said, ” unless you happen to be at a music festival and it was on anyway.” 

And when you consider it for a while, you may find how this could be wrongly exploited. One of the ways it could be exploited is that some artists might get undeserved publicity if someone claimed that their songs were mosquito repellent. But in actual fact, mosquitoes do not even acknowledge the sound of that music. 

Also, bear in mind that the research was only carried out on a specific species of mosquito. There are many other species of mosquitoes, and of course, thousands of insects.

There are also some arguments that insects are indifferent to music. That music neither attracts nor repels insects. But not much research has been done to prove or disprove this.

Conclusion

So, does music really attract or repel insects, science doesn’t know that yet. But if you are not in the business of entertaining the insects that may or may not want to feed on you, you might as well get rid of them.