Science Memes

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Carl? (mander.xyz)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 56 points 1 year ago (9 children)

That'll be Ophiocordyceps unilateralis. It invades the ant's brain and causes it to leave it's nest and go somewhere better for the fungus then wait to die as the fungus errupts from its head.

If we're talking about nightmare mind control horrors, we shouldn't forget our old friend toxiplasmosis gondii, which infects rodents, then alters their behaviour so they're not afraid of cats, in particular. This leads to the rodent getting eaten so the parasite can infect the cat, which is the only place it can reproduce, before spreading from the cat faeces back into the rodent population. It can also infect humans where there is evidence that it affects behavior too, particularly making males more careless of rules.

Sleep well.

[+] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

[removed by mod]

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Oh come now, there are so many more interesting parasites that mess with your brain for their own benefit; Trypanosoma which messes with your sleep before slowly killing you, Naegleria fowleri that just straight up eats your brain and a host of others that do weird and wonderful things.

Look at it this way; before you were surrounded by mind controlled ants, suicidal rodents and other such horrors without even knowing it. Now you do know about them. What's that? I'm really not helping? Ok, I'll stop.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And don't forget the slow and almost certain agonising death of rabies for which we have no cure

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ah rabies, a delightful little horror that makes it so painful to swallow that victims will flinch at the mere sight of water, then drives them into a frenzied rage in an attempt to spread through bite wounds. It looks like they've developed a couple of protocols (Milwaukee and Recife Protocols) that give the victim a chance, even if mot a good one. They both involve an induced coma so that you don't attack anyone, so that's fun.

Get your vaccinations folks, running around foaming at the mouth and attacking anyone near you isn't a good way to go out.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I haven't heard of the biting in humans being as prevelant as in animals. But they certainly get more aggressive and loose control

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

And those little things might make you kinky. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1474704916659746 (One of my favorit papers because a friend of mine got them)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Toxoplasma gondii is a microscopic bug, who carries on genius in its genes

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

so that's why guys who like cats are generally friendly anarchists

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

This is a good place to leave this link to a nice folk song about parasites that has a verse on Toxoplasma of course

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Real-life ant clickers.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

based parasite makes dudes anarchists