Comments on: Your Monday Morning Parasite Show (Safe for Breakfast)

By: Kylee Peterson

Kylee Peterson — Wed, 16 May 2007 16:36:41 +0000

I found what must be the same video at a different Youtube location: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzi8cZ1I12U

By: marcello

marcello — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 15:05:27 +0000

the video is sadly no longer available.
M

By: Mike Kaspari

Mike Kaspari — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 00:11:20 +0000

Couldn’t happen to a nicer ant. These “bullet ants” are Paraponera clavata. They get their name from the wallop of their sting. In Costa Rica they’re called “24 ants”, because that’s how long it takes for the the sting to wear off. I got my initiation one morning, wading through some low palms that I was separating like the waters of a shallow lagoon. The sting was presaged by a stridulating “eenk eenk” and the smell of garlic and then….waam! Felt like my hand was being slammed in a car door every 30 seconds or so.

That said…

Crick once said (I paraphrase) that great science is revealing the processes of the invisible. I suspect that such parasites and pathogens are a great invisible hand guiding ecosystems.

Getting Things Done in Academia–toward building your intellectual infrastructure
eebatou.wordpress.com

By: Dave Carlson

Dave Carlson — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 22:25:30 +0000

Wow. I don’t know how I missed this until now. That was beautiful; I got chills watching it.

By: MC

MC — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 12:15:51 +0000

Here is a strategy used by crickets to avoid being infected by a parastic fly.

By: Neal Deesit

Neal Deesit — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 10:58:58 +0000

“Wow. I wonder what kind of parasite it would take to make a human do something crazy before he or she died.”

How about a parasitic son inveigling his aged mother into changing her will, thereby bequeathing her substantial estate entirely to him and disinheriting her other four children?

By: Celia

Celia — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 22:44:18 +0000

Wow. I wonder what kind of parasite it would take to make a human do something crazy before he or she died.

By: charlie wagner

charlie wagner — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 15:42:36 +0000

Stevie wrote:

“Charlie’s just ticked ’cause he’s running out of places that haven’t banned him yet!”

I wasn

By: romunov

romunov — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 08:34:09 +0000

“??? since when do they assign different species (and genus!!!) names to organisms? i’m guessing they were named separately because they didn’t know it was the same organism (like with other parasites, some of which Carl describes in Parasite Rex), but why do they keep it?”

Back in the “good old days” when molecular techniques weren’t as refined or non-exhistant, anamorphs (asexual forms or “Fungi imperfecti”) were given totally different geni (pl. for genus?) due to their striking morphological and probably ecological, difference.

For example, Candida is an anamorph of well know S. cerevisiae.

By: Steviepinhead

Steviepinhead — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 21:56:32 +0000

Charlie’s just ticked ’cause he’s running out of places that haven’t banned him yet!

He does have a point, here, though: The Loom is more of a pure science play–and does an excellent job at it!–than PT or Pharyngula. Pharyngula’s science articles are great, but it’s not intended to be confined to those–it’s PZ’s soap box, and more power to him.

PT is likewise intended to be a forum for airing news and views about the attacks on evolutionary science by the trolls, wingnuts and other psuedoscientific loonies–again, not a pure science play, though timely scientific articles do appear and rigorous scientific arguments are made.

As for Charlie, he reminds me of the tuna in the old StarKist ads–good taste in music, but his evo-bio arguments don’t go down nearly as well.

By: charlie wagner

charlie wagner — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 15:55:53 +0000

Carl,
Despite the fact that you and I disagree on the subject of evolution, darwinism and intelligent design, I have to honestly say that I find your blog to be the “Best Science Blog” that I read. You’re certainly a lot more “scientific” than either “Panda’s Thumb”, which is filled with ideologues proselytizing their irrational belief system or “Pharyngula”, which has taken near-rage and personal insult to new levels.

By: sravana

sravana — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 03:55:54 +0000

I notice that one species of cordyceps from China is commonly used in TCM – it’s called dong chong xia cao.

As far as the above video being safe for breakfast… I’m not so sure!

By: MedStudentWife

MedStudentWife — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 02:26:41 +0000

hehehee.. *EEEEWWWWWEEEE*…. at least those things living inour eyelashes arent so bad…

but still***EEEEWWWWWEEWEWEWEWWW***

*lol*

By: drcharles

drcharles — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 18:01:28 +0000

wow – that is some of the most stunning and shocking video I’ve ever seen. thanks for the link and the knowledge.

By: TAW

TAW — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 02:43:03 +0000

wait a minute!
“On the other hand, the asexual state of C. subsessilis is a lovely, white mold called Tolypocladium inflatum. ”

??? since when do they assign different species (and genus!!!) names to organisms? i’m guessing they were named separately because they didn’t know it was the same organism (like with other parasites, some of which Carl describes in Parasite Rex), but why do they keep it?

By: Carl Zimmer

Carl Zimmer — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 20:51:49 +0000

Comstock: You betcha. See these posts on Toxoplasma and a recent talk I gave about manipulation.

By: Comstock

Comstock — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 19:45:49 +0000

Have any parasitic organisms been shown to alter the behavior of vertebrates similarly, so that the new behavior furthers the survival/reproduction of the parasite?

By: boojieboy

boojieboy — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 19:21:44 +0000

Try this one on for size http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/Jun2006.html

By: sparc

sparc — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 15:51:13 +0000

Reminds me of Dicrocoelium dendriticum in ants.
BTW, what drove King Kong up to the Empire State Building