Zombie ants

[oaktree]

The fungus species can infect an ant, take over its brain, and then kill the insect once it moves to a location ideal for the fungi to grow and spread their spores

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...ence-brazil/?source=link_fb20110303zombieants

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2652714/?tool=pmcentrez

I think it is pretty cool.

 

[Sukerkin]

Good lord! I had heard of this but had never read anything in detail about it. Sci-fi scenario or what?!

 

[fyn5000]

I think it is pretty cool.

Not so cool for the ants! :xtrmshock

Fyn

 

[shesulsa]

Freaky ****, man.

 

[Xue Sheng]

That is one smart fungus

 

[Blade96]

i heard about that those mind controlling parasites they scary

i wonder why a god would wanna create this sick stuff.

 

[Touch Of Death]

i heard about that those mind controlling parasites they scary

i wonder why a god would wanna create this sick stuff.

Interesting sentiment... I think you would also be questioning God if the insect world went unchecked.
Sean

 

[RandomPhantom700]

Quick, someone call Mulder and Skully!

In all seriousness, intriguing and fairly creepy stuff. I love Nat. Geo.

 

[Xue Sheng]

i heard about that those mind controlling parasites they scary

i wonder why a god would wanna create this sick stuff.

The answer you seek is here

Monty Python - all things dull and ugly

All things dull and ugly,
All creatures short and squat,
All things rude and nasty,
The Lord God made the lot.
Each little snake that poisons,
Each little wasp that stings,
He made their brutish venom.
He made their horrid wings.

All things sick and cancerous,
All evil great and small,
All things foul and dangerous,
The Lord God made them all.

Each nasty little hornet,
Each beastly little squid--
Who made the spikey urchin?
Who made the sharks? He did!

All things scabbed and ulcerous,
All pox both great and small,
Putrid, foul and gangrenous,
The Lord God made them all.

Amen.

 

[Blindside]

This is one of the reasons why I became a wildlife biologist, nature is often way way stranger than fiction. Very cool.

On a bit of trivia, do you know fungi in general are more closely related to animals than plants? It is one of the reason it is hard to treat things like athletes foot and other fungal infections.

 

[teekin]

see I think this stuff is Totally COOL! I really want to dig into the neuro-chemistry of this and find out the How and Why of the working mechanism. I see this and just think, " hmmmmm, is there a phamacology application here?" Love the chemistry behind this kind of thing. it's so beautiful that I DO see the hand of God.

Lori

 

[granfire]

think it can be used to make kids clean their rooms?

Then again, the rooms are already prime fungal breeding grounds...

 

[oaktree]

see I think this stuff is Totally COOL! I really want to dig into the neuro-chemistry of this and find out the How and Why of the working mechanism. I see this and just think, " hmmmmm, is there a phamacology application here?" Love the chemistry behind this kind of thing. it's so beautiful that I DO see the hand of God.

Lori

Well Michael Jackson used it once and the results came out like this:

The Cordyceps fungus contains various known and untapped bioactive metabolites, and is being investigated as a new source of natural drugs with immunomodulatory, antitumor, hypoglycemic and hypocholesterolemic functions.[9]
Six bioactive naphthoquinone derivatives isolated from C. unilateralis, namely

• erythrostominone
• deoxyerythrostominone
• 4-O-methyl erythrostominone|4-O-methyl erythrostominone
• epierythrostominol
• deoxyerythrostominol, and
• 3,5,8-trihydroxy-6-methoxy-2-(5-oxohexa-1,3-dienyl)-1,4-naphthoquinone

showed anti-malarial activity in vitro.[10][11]

I thought this was pretty cool:

C. unilateralis has been known to destroy entire ant colonies. In response, ants have evolved the ability to sense that a member of the colony is infected; healthy ants will carry the dying one far away from the colony in order to avoid fungal spore exposure.[2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_ant

C. unilateralis has been known to destroy entire ant colonies. In response, ants have evolved the ability to sense that a member of the colony is infected; healthy ants will carry the dying one far away from the colony in order to avoid fungal spore exposure.[2

 

[Empty Hands]

i heard about that those mind controlling parasites they scary

i wonder why a god would wanna create this sick stuff.

Because no god did?

 

[crushing]

Well Michael Jackson used it once and the results came out like this:

That video was not what I had expected. The thread was about a fungus, which made me think of yeast, then when I saw "Michael Jackson", I was thinking of the other famous Michael Jackson.

 

[Amoroque]

I guess the movies about Zombies aren't so far fetched after all.

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.

 

[oaktree]

That video was not what I had expected. The thread was about a fungus, which made me think of yeast, then when I saw "Michael Jackson", I was thinking of the other famous Michael Jackson.

Interesting Michael Jackson (writer) died August 30th and Michael Jackson was born August 29th. I thought the thread was about zombies.

 

[Nomad]

Weird... on my ipad, the plants always kill the zombies... though come to think of it, there is a mushroom that makes the zombie turn and attack other zombies.

 

[Xue Sheng]

To kill Zombie ants

If you have a gun, shoot 'em in the head. That's a sure way to kill 'em. If you don't, get yourself a club or a torch. Beat 'em or burn 'em. They go up pretty easy. --- Night of the Living Dead (1968)

 

[crushing]

To kill Zombie ants

I just saw Night of the Living Dead for the first time Saturday night.