[2011-Aug-08] Comic Question

Blame Quintushalls for this.

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friedlad

[2011-Aug-08] Comic Question

Post by friedlad »

http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2331

Last frame.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson and who's the other guy?

Guest

Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question

Post by Guest »

Phil Plait (aka "The Bad Astronomer").

neuroboy

Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question

Post by neuroboy »

re: parasites

Radiolab did an entire episode on how parasites change behavior. . . awesome/creepy. . . http://www.radiolab.org/2009/sep/07/

corydodttemp

Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question

Post by corydodttemp »

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.

null

Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question

Post by null »

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.

Mental Mouse
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 11:57 am

Trematode [Aug-08-11]

Post by Mental Mouse »

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....

ABS2011

Re: Trematode [Aug-08-11]

Post by ABS2011 »

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?

Wrinkledlion X

Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question

Post by Wrinkledlion X »

Wasn't this the premise of a short story by (I think) Asimov?

gavin
A Disappointment.
Posts: 232
Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2011 7:14 pm
Location: Florida

Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question

Post by gavin »

Wrinkledlion X wrote:Wasn't this the premise of a short story by (I think) Asimov?
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?

No, I'm pretty sure that's the Sound of Thunder. Never mind.
;-)

Quintushalls
Posts: 120
Joined: Sat Sep 11, 2010 2:32 pm

Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question

Post by Quintushalls »

gavin wrote:Didn't it involve time travel to kill dinosaurs who would have died soon otherwise?
Save yourself mammal! We'll fend off the asteroid!

UnclGhost
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 7:36 am

Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question

Post by UnclGhost »

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)

Wrinkledlion X

Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question

Post by Wrinkledlion X »

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.

DrStrangelove

Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question

Post by DrStrangelove »

Actually, humans are infested by a species of tremadode themselves. Search for Schistosoma mansoni. But it parasites mainly the liver, not the brain.

SerCarter

Re: 8 Aug 2011 Comic Question

Post by SerCarter »

Sounds like my good friend captain higgins, the parasitic flatworm

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