[2011-Aug-08] Comic Question
[2011-Aug-08] Comic Question
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2331
Last frame.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson and who's the other guy?
Last frame.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson and who's the other guy?
Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question
re: parasites
Radiolab did an entire episode on how parasites change behavior. . . awesome/creepy. . . http://www.radiolab.org/2009/sep/07/
Radiolab did an entire episode on how parasites change behavior. . . awesome/creepy. . . http://www.radiolab.org/2009/sep/07/
Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question
Google EP276 and click "I'm Feeling Lucky" .. I think Zach accidentally told the plot of this story as a joke. Definitely accidental btw, I totally get that this is a coincidence, but it's bizarre how close they are.
Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question
An estimated 1/3 of the human population has such an infection.
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... sma_gondii
It's quite similar to what was mentioned in the comic, except this is generally between mice and cats instead of fish and birds, and can infect humans as well.
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... sma_gondii
It's quite similar to what was mentioned in the comic, except this is generally between mice and cats instead of fish and birds, and can infect humans as well.
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Trematode [Aug-08-11]
Actually, there's a credible example for humans... that of the toxoplasmosis parasite, carried by a number of mammals, but primarily cats. We know that when it infects rats, it makes them much less wary of cats, even of their smell... so they're much more likely to get eaten.
We also know it can infect humans, usually without obvious symptoms. Now, a lot of humans are themselves pretty wary of cats... but then, there are "cat people", who seek them out at every opportunity. Not to mention the "crazy cat people", who hoard cats....
We also know it can infect humans, usually without obvious symptoms. Now, a lot of humans are themselves pretty wary of cats... but then, there are "cat people", who seek them out at every opportunity. Not to mention the "crazy cat people", who hoard cats....
Re: Trematode [Aug-08-11]
Oh my goodness - SUDDEN REALIZATION
The Weinersmith, K who I saw present on this topic at the Animal Behaviour Society 2011 Conference was Zach Weiner's wife?
The Weinersmith, K who I saw present on this topic at the Animal Behaviour Society 2011 Conference was Zach Weiner's wife?
Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question
Wasn't this the premise of a short story by (I think) Asimov?
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Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question
That Zach's wife presented at the Animal Behaviour Society 2011 Conference? Yes, I think I remember that one. Didn't it involve time travel to kill dinosaurs who would have died soon otherwise?Wrinkledlion X wrote:Wasn't this the premise of a short story by (I think) Asimov?
No, I'm pretty sure that's the Sound of Thunder. Never mind.
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Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question
Save yourself mammal! We'll fend off the asteroid!gavin wrote:Didn't it involve time travel to kill dinosaurs who would have died soon otherwise?
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Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question
Yeah, definite similarities to "On a Blade of Grass." At least here it's a joke instead of the plot, but I have the same problem with it: how on earth would there be selection pressures that led to a parasite that reproduces in the stomach of an alien that it's never even been close to encountering?
(incidentally, my favorite parasites-make-people-do-normal-things story is "The Giving Plague" by David Brin)
(incidentally, my favorite parasites-make-people-do-normal-things story is "The Giving Plague" by David Brin)
Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question
Not familiar with that one, but after searching for a while, I found the one I was thinking of: "Does a Bee Care?" by Asimov
So not parasitism exactly, but a similar overall concept.
So not parasitism exactly, but a similar overall concept.
Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question
Actually, humans are infested by a species of tremadode themselves. Search for Schistosoma mansoni. But it parasites mainly the liver, not the brain.
Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question
Sounds like my good friend captain higgins, the parasitic flatworm