A Russian artist, famed for his miniature paintings, has based his new research on the coronavirus pandemic by making tiny insect masks to symbolically protect them from contamination, Reuters reported.
Anatoly Konenko – who made headlines in 2002 when he was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records to build the world's smallest book, a 0.9 mm. by 0.9 mm. edition of the Russian author Anton Chekov's Chameleon – developed masks so far for a grasshopper, wasp, lobster, buck and dragonfly.
Konenko's models were discovered dead in the streets of Omsk by him and others.
While the masks simply do not shield the animals – because they are already deceased, so it is impossible that insects will ever transmit coronavirus in the first place – the purpose of his research is symbolic.
"We must now realize, in this tough moment, that protecting not only humans but also animals and insects is important," Konenko told Reuters.
"It is a very comfortable mask," he said, keeping a small medical-fabric mask.
This is important to protect animal health because many animals around the world are suffering from the coronavirus pandemic, regardless of how they will actually capture the virus. For one case, a shortage of tourist food has prompted monkeys to start fighting over food in a Thailand region. However, several animal shelters around the globe, particularly in Israel, suffer from a lack of staff.
Konenko plans to make masks for even smaller insects, for example, mosquitoes, in the near future.
Source: Jerusalem Post
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