Mindsuckers
December 8, 2015 1:58 PM Subscribe
Burn them with fire.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 2:11 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by GallonOfAlan at 2:11 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
For those who did look, let's just admit that we all turned each slide into an X-Files episode by imagining the life cycle of the parasite in its host happening to a human being.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:12 PM on December 8, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:12 PM on December 8, 2015 [6 favorites]
What are online social networking marketeers? (for $200)
posted by sammyo at 2:15 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by sammyo at 2:15 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Burn them with fire
I salute your inclination, sir, but must complain about your lack of ambition.
I, for one, claim that the mere existence of these creatures is sufficient cause to exterminate all life on Earth in a blazing storm of hellfire. All life, sir, all life.
posted by aramaic at 2:15 PM on December 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
I salute your inclination, sir, but must complain about your lack of ambition.
I, for one, claim that the mere existence of these creatures is sufficient cause to exterminate all life on Earth in a blazing storm of hellfire. All life, sir, all life.
posted by aramaic at 2:15 PM on December 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
For those who did look, let's just admit that we all turned each slide into an X-Files episode by imagining the life cycle of the parasite in its host happening to a human being.
Slide 4 is actually the basis of The Last Of Us.
posted by NoxAeternum at 2:20 PM on December 8, 2015
Slide 4 is actually the basis of The Last Of Us.
posted by NoxAeternum at 2:20 PM on December 8, 2015
Brr... Things like this always remind me of the studies about Toxoplasma gondii (carried by 30-50% of the global population) and the evidence that it can affect human behavior and maybe motor skills and WHY ARE WE NOT ALL FREAKING OUT ABOUT THIS ALL THE TIME AIIIEEEEE!
posted by Wretch729 at 2:24 PM on December 8, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Wretch729 at 2:24 PM on December 8, 2015 [4 favorites]
and WHY ARE WE NOT ALL FREAKING OUT ABOUT THIS ALL THE TIME AIIIEEEEE!
Because we have too many cute kitties to pet.
posted by sparklemotion at 2:27 PM on December 8, 2015 [7 favorites]
Because we have too many cute kitties to pet.
posted by sparklemotion at 2:27 PM on December 8, 2015 [7 favorites]
Engrossing Portraits of Parasites and the Creatures They Zombify
They forgot one.
posted by Fizz at 2:28 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
They forgot one.
posted by Fizz at 2:28 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Wretch729: "WHY ARE WE NOT ALL FREAKING OUT ABOUT THIS ALL THE TIME AIIIEEEEE!"
Indeed. It's such a natural reaction to have, you'd almost expect that something's altering your thought process to not be freaking out about this all the time.
But I'm sure you'd know if that were happening, right?
posted by boo_radley at 2:47 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Indeed. It's such a natural reaction to have, you'd almost expect that something's altering your thought process to not be freaking out about this all the time.
But I'm sure you'd know if that were happening, right?
posted by boo_radley at 2:47 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
But I'm sure you'd know if that were happening, right?
“Ignore all random thoughts that feel… spider-y.”
posted by Space Coyote at 2:50 PM on December 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
“Ignore all random thoughts that feel… spider-y.”
posted by Space Coyote at 2:50 PM on December 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
i don't really want to look for myself but i would just like to state that if this list does not include human babies then it is useless
posted by poffin boffin at 3:05 PM on December 8, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 3:05 PM on December 8, 2015 [7 favorites]
God created a worm that grows big and strong in the inside guts of a cricket and then makes the cricket drown itself and then comes squiggling out of the cricket's anus-hole. Truly He is a mighty and wise God. We will forever revel in His mysterious workings and His majesty and-*STAMP STAMP STAMP STAMP STAMP*
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:07 PM on December 8, 2015 [11 favorites]
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:07 PM on December 8, 2015 [11 favorites]
is that the sound of something stamping on a human face forever, by any chance
posted by grobstein at 3:14 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by grobstein at 3:14 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
"i don't really want to look for myself but i would just like to state that if this list does not include human babies then it is useless
posted by poffin boffin at 5:05 PM on December 8 [+] [!] "
I came this close [] to posting a pic of Paris Hilton but truth be told she is not the worst offender and I kind of like her.
posted by vapidave at 3:15 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by poffin boffin at 5:05 PM on December 8 [+] [!] "
I came this close [] to posting a pic of Paris Hilton but truth be told she is not the worst offender and I kind of like her.
posted by vapidave at 3:15 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
I have to say that if pressed I would say I am in Camp Hilton and I don't even know why.
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:29 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:29 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
My personal favorite.
posted by vapidave at 5:55 PM on December 8 [+] [!]
Your link goes to a Google Image search where half of the returned images show ants with growths spouting out of them and the other half show some kind of Asian noodle dish.
WTF?
posted by rocket88 at 3:55 PM on December 8, 2015
posted by vapidave at 5:55 PM on December 8 [+] [!]
Your link goes to a Google Image search where half of the returned images show ants with growths spouting out of them and the other half show some kind of Asian noodle dish.
WTF?
posted by rocket88 at 3:55 PM on December 8, 2015
I haven't heard of a lot of these! That one that causes frogs to grow extra limbs is especially crazy. Charles Stross recently asked his blogreaders to inform him about unusual parasites (and yelled at the commenters who brought up the bush league ones like Toxoplasma gondii or Ophiocordyceps unilateralis). He'll probably appreciate this link.
This is one of my favorite bug parasite photos. The text reveals that it's gross in multiple ways.
posted by painquale at 5:00 PM on December 8, 2015
This is one of my favorite bug parasite photos. The text reveals that it's gross in multiple ways.
posted by painquale at 5:00 PM on December 8, 2015
These photos are part of a National Geographic special from last year called Mindsuckers. The actual site has an article by Carl Zimmer as well as some audio-enhanced "graphic novels." One called On Sinister Pond is about a flatworm-deformed frog. (Great title.)
There's also a horrible stop-motion animation of all these disgusting parasites dancing to electronic dance music.
posted by painquale at 5:16 PM on December 8, 2015
There's also a horrible stop-motion animation of all these disgusting parasites dancing to electronic dance music.
posted by painquale at 5:16 PM on December 8, 2015
let's just admit that we all turned each slide into an X-Files episode
Season 2, Episode 9, as it happens. It made an impression.
The photo of the ant with Ophiocordyceps is something else. I had thought I was looking at a wasp with distorted wings at first. Unsettling stuff.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 5:48 PM on December 8, 2015
Season 2, Episode 9, as it happens. It made an impression.
The photo of the ant with Ophiocordyceps is something else. I had thought I was looking at a wasp with distorted wings at first. Unsettling stuff.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 5:48 PM on December 8, 2015
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Can't sleep, parasite will possess me. Can't sleep, parasite will possess me.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 5:55 PM on December 8, 2015
Can't sleep, parasite will possess me. Can't sleep, parasite will possess me.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 5:55 PM on December 8, 2015
I researched my treatment options when I was first diagnosed with MS, all the way down to the base ingredients and manufacturing process. I gave a big NOPE to Gilenya (Fingolimod) when I found that it is derived from myriocin, a metabolite of the fungus Isaria sinclairii, which is similar to the cordyceps family of fungi, attacking if not necessarily controlling insects.
I was already fungi-phobic (mushrooms are gross), and while I know that this aspect was not really transferable through to the final drug product, there were other drugs available with similar efficacy and minimal side effects. So I decided to not go there (fungi drug). Instead, I chose a drug produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells (Avonex, interferon beta 1a). I chose that one over another type of interferon produced from modified E. coli...
So I went with the Avonex. What could go wrong with a drug that came from the same cells that give us fluffy little hamsters? In my case, I considered the drug my own personal fluffy battle hamsters in their battle hamster balls in my fight against MS.
Unfortunately Avonex didn't work out too well. So now I take a drug (dimethyl fumarate) derived from a chemical first applied as a biocide to prevent mold growth in furniture and shoes...
Yeah for science!
Down with mushrooms!
posted by mephisjo at 5:58 PM on December 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
I was already fungi-phobic (mushrooms are gross), and while I know that this aspect was not really transferable through to the final drug product, there were other drugs available with similar efficacy and minimal side effects. So I decided to not go there (fungi drug). Instead, I chose a drug produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells (Avonex, interferon beta 1a). I chose that one over another type of interferon produced from modified E. coli...
So I went with the Avonex. What could go wrong with a drug that came from the same cells that give us fluffy little hamsters? In my case, I considered the drug my own personal fluffy battle hamsters in their battle hamster balls in my fight against MS.
Unfortunately Avonex didn't work out too well. So now I take a drug (dimethyl fumarate) derived from a chemical first applied as a biocide to prevent mold growth in furniture and shoes...
Yeah for science!
Down with mushrooms!
posted by mephisjo at 5:58 PM on December 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
Ophiocordyceps Is pretty much the superstar of the moment, stealing the limelight from parasitic wasps (inspiration for some late 70s movie)... I must admit a soft spot for rhizophala (previously) - c'mon, when's the parasitic castrating barnacle going to get its day in the sun?
posted by Artw at 6:06 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 6:06 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
The photos are beautiful, but for maximum gross-out they really should have included some human examples. (A much worse person than myself would have been tempted to link to gifs of worms crawling in and out of an anus, and that is just the beginning of the wonders of parasites.)
posted by Dip Flash at 6:41 PM on December 8, 2015
posted by Dip Flash at 6:41 PM on December 8, 2015
If you like just a whole load of nope - Strepsiptera, (previously) a parasitic order of insects, are disturbing on just so very many levels. Here's a video of a male emerging from its host wasp (Closer detail of a similar emergence) Why's there no videos of a female emerging? Because they don't. The females don't have adult external characteristics such as eyes, antennae, legs, wings and external genitalia
Added bonus: instead of compound eyes the males have creepy multiple little eyes all in a ball. I've not described their reproduction because I don't want to type the words out. Shudder.
posted by coleboptera at 8:23 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Added bonus: instead of compound eyes the males have creepy multiple little eyes all in a ball. I've not described their reproduction because I don't want to type the words out. Shudder.
posted by coleboptera at 8:23 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
The Squirrel Machine's Hans Rickheit and I did a six-page comic strip about parasitic wasps and caterpillars. (Previously)
posted by Paul Slade at 2:04 AM on December 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Paul Slade at 2:04 AM on December 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
Hans Rickheit is the perfect person to illustrate things like this.
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:37 AM on December 9, 2015
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:37 AM on December 9, 2015
A more academic take on these kinds of things previously,
Deciphering the Tools of Nature’s Zombies: The ability of parasites to alter the behaviour of their hosts fascinates both scientists and non-scientists alike. One reason that this topic resonates with so many is that it touches on core philosophical issues such as the existence of free will. If the mind is merely a machine, then it can be controlled by any entity that understands the code and has access to the machinery. This special issue of The Journal of Experimental Biology highlights some of the best-understood examples of parasite-induced changes in host brain and behaviour, encompassing both invertebrate and vertebrate hosts and micro- and macro-parasites. Full issue annotated inside:posted by Blasdelb at 7:30 AM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Meet the “zombie Parasite” That Mind-controls You, Then Explodes out of Your Brain
posted by Artw at 10:24 AM on December 13, 2015
posted by Artw at 10:24 AM on December 13, 2015
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I don't know a good way to write down a shudder.
posted by grobstein at 2:09 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]