LOOKING FOR new weapons to kill bedbugs. “A common household pest for centuries, bedbugs were virtually eradicated in the 1940s and ’50s by the widespread use of DDT. That insecticide was banned in the 1970s, and the bugs developed resistance to chemicals that replaced it. . . . Getting rid of them, experts say, has become a complex political and social problem, not only because of modern concerns about pesticide use but also because of Americans’ mobile lifestyle.”

Related: Does your hotel have bedbugs? Check this registry. In New York, I hear they’re calling them “Bloombugs.”