WEBVTT - How has toxoplasma turned the world into zombies?

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<v Speaker 1>Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

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<v Speaker 1>It's ready. Are you welcome to stuff you should know

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<v Speaker 1>from house Stuff Works dot Com. Hey, and welcome to

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<v Speaker 1>the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. With me is the always

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<v Speaker 1>lovely and effervescent Charles W. Bryant. I have on shorts today.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you do you look like you're ready to go

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<v Speaker 1>to the beach or play basketball or play beach at

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<v Speaker 1>the basketball and I'm at the opposite of that. Play

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<v Speaker 1>basketball the beach. Yeah, you can do that in southern California, buddy,

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<v Speaker 1>You can do anything in southern California. Show us what

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<v Speaker 1>I hear? Yeah, I can do anything because my wife's

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<v Speaker 1>side of town. I know. Chuck's a bachelor today, batching

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<v Speaker 1>it as we say. He looks terrible. He's dressed shabbily,

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<v Speaker 1>clearly hasn't showered, food stuff staying down in the front

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<v Speaker 1>of his shirts. Steak in his beard. That's a big

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<v Speaker 1>hunk of steak on your beard? Is so? Chuck? How

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<v Speaker 1>you feeling? I feel a little tired and under the

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<v Speaker 1>weather because of my bachelor experiences, but I am ready

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<v Speaker 1>to go. Are you you're bringing it? Yes? So Chuck

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<v Speaker 1>Um you know how neurotic I am right like, right now,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm thinking about what you're really thinking about me. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>you're a little neurotic. I wouldn't say hugely neurotic. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>definitely not Woody Allen neurotic. No, no, no, But things

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<v Speaker 1>like gil self doubt. Um uh what was the third one?

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<v Speaker 1>Self doubt? You always think you stink on the show,

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<v Speaker 1>which is just ridiculous. Oh I do, because you're good regardless.

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<v Speaker 1>These things drive me right. Um so yeah, I would

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<v Speaker 1>consider myself fairly neurotic. And I recently found out Chuck

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<v Speaker 1>um actually thanks to a new show that has inspired

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<v Speaker 1>this podcast and the next one. We're doing a pair

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<v Speaker 1>of them on parasites. It's an Animal Planet show actually

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<v Speaker 1>called Monsters Inside of Me. Yes, and the staff is

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<v Speaker 1>parasite crazy right now. It's all over the blogs that

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<v Speaker 1>blogs are lousy with parasites, lousy with parasites because it's

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<v Speaker 1>a really cool show. Have you seen aunt, I've seen

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<v Speaker 1>parts of it. Yeah, it is wicked. Yeah, I like it.

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<v Speaker 1>I think it's cool, mainly though, because it relieves me

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<v Speaker 1>from any responsibility from my own personality and own horrible, disappointing, obnoxious,

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<v Speaker 1>personality actually probably is the result of a latent infection

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<v Speaker 1>by a little thing called toxoplasma Gandhi T, gandhi gandhi.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna I'm gonna call it taxo. You can call

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<v Speaker 1>it T, you can call it T. I'll call it taxo, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>just just for ease of pronunciation. But yeah, this is

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<v Speaker 1>a parasite. It's a zootic disease, which means we catch

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<v Speaker 1>it from animals. Right, It's a relative of malaria, it is.

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<v Speaker 1>But this thing is possibly running the world. Yeah, it was.

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<v Speaker 1>This is a little disturbing. I gotta tell you a

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<v Speaker 1>ted bit. So so let's talk about T. Let's talk

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<v Speaker 1>about taxo. Yeah. Uh it is a parasite, as we said,

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<v Speaker 1>as a complex life cycle. Like most parasites, uh, and

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<v Speaker 1>the life cycle is has a purpose to get into

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<v Speaker 1>its final host. And that word just creeps me out,

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<v Speaker 1>the host or definitive host. Yeah, yeah, and um, this

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<v Speaker 1>one is unusual because it it completes this life cycle

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<v Speaker 1>in one place, in one place only, and that is

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<v Speaker 1>inside of a cat. A cat's and a guts that

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<v Speaker 1>cats gut. Yeah, this is where uh T wants to

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<v Speaker 1>be because this is where it gets it on and

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<v Speaker 1>reproduces everywhere else it does. It goes to incredible lengths

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<v Speaker 1>to get back into the cat gut. Yeah, it's crazy,

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<v Speaker 1>like like really honestly, we haven't we haven't gotten into

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<v Speaker 1>this yet, but this is this is like master Blaster

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<v Speaker 1>from from Thunderdome. It's like the little guy like just

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<v Speaker 1>running things in and making whatever it needs to carry

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<v Speaker 1>it to the cat gut, do whatever it wants to

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<v Speaker 1>get it into the cat gut. Right and uh, toxoplasma

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<v Speaker 1>is actually um really common. Estimates run into as much

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<v Speaker 1>as eight percent of the world population is infected has

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<v Speaker 1>latent infection with toxoplasma, right, um, sixty seven percent of

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<v Speaker 1>Brazilians alone. Yeah, but then on the other side, seven

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<v Speaker 1>percent of the UK is infected. So yeah, it's lopsided. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>And this may sound familiar already because for many, many

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<v Speaker 1>years we've known that pregnant women should stay away from

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<v Speaker 1>cat feces to pick up the infection. Go ahead and

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<v Speaker 1>say that our guest producer. We have a guest producer

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<v Speaker 1>this week. Oh yeah, hey, Lizzie Lovely in Fetching Lizzie.

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<v Speaker 1>She thought I was kidding with her when I told

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<v Speaker 1>her that, Oh, really, I think pregnant women can't clean

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<v Speaker 1>out the cat box. She thought I was pulling her

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<v Speaker 1>leg and I was gonna like pull one on her.

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<v Speaker 1>That was actually like the first public health warning I

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<v Speaker 1>have I ever came across. I've known that since I

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<v Speaker 1>was you know, kneehi to a grasshopper. Yeah, I love

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<v Speaker 1>that phrase. Yeah. So yeah, you you're not allowed. You're

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<v Speaker 1>not allowed. You're not so post to um the police

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<v Speaker 1>cat box, police wire can be you're not supposed to

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<v Speaker 1>clean out the cat box if you're with child, because, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>fetus is one of the ways one of the things

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<v Speaker 1>that can be harmed. Yeah, effects like serious birth defects. Um. So, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>if you are, if your lady is pregnant, you want

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<v Speaker 1>to go ahead and take care of cleaning out the

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<v Speaker 1>cat box during that nine months, because that's how toxoplasma

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<v Speaker 1>infections result from handling cat feces or more specifically, and

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<v Speaker 1>I got the impression that it's much more virulent when

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<v Speaker 1>cat feces mixes with soil, right, it has much more

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<v Speaker 1>staying power, that kind of thing. So, if you have

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<v Speaker 1>a cat that likes to poop in your garden and

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<v Speaker 1>you're a big gardener, you're gonna want to murder your

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<v Speaker 1>cat and uh get rid of all of your top

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<v Speaker 1>soil and start over again, right. Uh. I imagine you

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<v Speaker 1>could also get it from eating a rat, because rats

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<v Speaker 1>and mice tend to get it as well. But you

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<v Speaker 1>can also very easily get it from eating undercooked livestock,

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<v Speaker 1>especially that has been around cat feces. I mean, how

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<v Speaker 1>many farms have cats on them? Quite a few outs.

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<v Speaker 1>So let's talk about the life cycle of this because

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<v Speaker 1>it's it's interesting that you mentioned rats or mice, because

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<v Speaker 1>these things are under arguably the most control of tea.

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<v Speaker 1>You know that confuses me because I had a car

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<v Speaker 1>named T so all right, i'll call it Taxo. Alright,

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<v Speaker 1>a car named Taxo as well? Man, did you have

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<v Speaker 1>one named T Gandhi? Okay, well I'll go with that one, thanks, Chuck.

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<v Speaker 1>You know I have a speech impediment. We'll go with Taxo. Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>So Taxo gets into the soil. Let's say your little kid,

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<v Speaker 1>he goes and poops outside, and mouse passes by the soil,

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<v Speaker 1>passes over, it eats, it, rolls around in, it plays

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<v Speaker 1>with it, makes a little clay sculpture out of it.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's his friend um, and the rats infected. So

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<v Speaker 1>this parasite actually goes through the bloodstream and travels to

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<v Speaker 1>the brain where all sorts of freaky freaky off start

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<v Speaker 1>happening to the rats behavior rat or mouse. And that's

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<v Speaker 1>slightly alarming to us because, as everyone knows, which is

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<v Speaker 1>why we use lab rats, we have very similar brains

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<v Speaker 1>to rats. Yeah, chemically the way it's put together the

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<v Speaker 1>whole deal, which I've always thought was interesting. Well, let's

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<v Speaker 1>talk about rats as the intermediate host. So now a

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<v Speaker 1>rat is infected with toxoplasmosis. Gross. Uh, it's brain is

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<v Speaker 1>being taken over. What are some of the weird things

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<v Speaker 1>that begin happening. Well, one thing that I thought was

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<v Speaker 1>most disturbing was they actually become fond of cat urine.

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<v Speaker 1>They do, they're attracted to the scent. And they did

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<v Speaker 1>a test opposite of what's supposed to happen. Yeah, they

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<v Speaker 1>did a test where they did you see the one

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<v Speaker 1>with a little sleeping they made the little beds for

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<v Speaker 1>the rats, and that one of them was soaked in

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<v Speaker 1>cat urine, and they would actually go for that bed.

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<v Speaker 1>They prefer that bedding over their normal bedding. Yeah. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>which is really weird, really weird. I wrote of another

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<v Speaker 1>study that found that these these rats were actually attracted

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<v Speaker 1>to cat your not just cent of it. They would

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<v Speaker 1>go and investigate cat urine and they they investigated the

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<v Speaker 1>brains of these rats, meaning they chopped their heads off

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<v Speaker 1>and cut their from them open and um. They didn't

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<v Speaker 1>just ask some questions. Although they did do studies, um like,

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<v Speaker 1>they did different trials, and what they found essentially was

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<v Speaker 1>that the rats are rodents lose specifically their fear of

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<v Speaker 1>cat urine. Okay, that's it. Everything else remains intact. All

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<v Speaker 1>other innate fears that they have, that that all rats

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<v Speaker 1>and mice display remain intact. It's just their fear of

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<v Speaker 1>cat urine. So they're attracted to cat urine. Plus also, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>toxo has an effect on your motor reflexes, so you're

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<v Speaker 1>not quite as fast as you used to be. Right.

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<v Speaker 1>So these two things together in attraction to cat urine,

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<v Speaker 1>the scent of cat urine and slow reflex time. That

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<v Speaker 1>means that you can get eaten by a cat, and

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<v Speaker 1>that means you get into your final host. Right. That

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<v Speaker 1>means the toxoplasmas, the toxoplasma has made its way back

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<v Speaker 1>into its definitive host, the guts of the cat, the

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<v Speaker 1>brain of the rodent. It is the coolest, most frightening

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<v Speaker 1>thing I've ever heard of in my entire life. It

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<v Speaker 1>really is, because, like you said, Chuck, like, rodent brains

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<v Speaker 1>are very similar to humans in composition, at least chemically, right.

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<v Speaker 1>That's why we're always experimenting on rodents um to find out,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, how we can treat schizophrenia, that kind of thing. So,

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<v Speaker 1>which leads us to since of the human population is

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<v Speaker 1>infected with a latent toxoplasma infection, is it having an

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<v Speaker 1>effect on us? It looks like yes, well yeah, For

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<v Speaker 1>many many years they always said, oh, so many people

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<v Speaker 1>have it, but it's really not the big of a

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<v Speaker 1>deal because once it enters the human body, it's kind

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<v Speaker 1>of uh, we're not gonna get eaten by a cat

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<v Speaker 1>anymore like a lion or a tiger. So not only

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<v Speaker 1>it doesn't matter once we're infected, they go and inform

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<v Speaker 1>resistant cysts. Basically just hide and then say it. They

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<v Speaker 1>don't do anything. They set up camping your body, right,

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<v Speaker 1>but that's that. That generally, that's it, unless you have

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<v Speaker 1>AIDS or another repressed immune system disease or that's when

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<v Speaker 1>it can, right, but it's gonna just sit there because

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<v Speaker 1>we have anybodies that can you know, keep them in check.

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<v Speaker 1>But that's what we thought exactly. But around I think

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<v Speaker 1>is when they really started to begin to look to

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<v Speaker 1>see what kind of behavioral changes toxoplasmosis might cause in humans.

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<v Speaker 1>And we started to find some startling results like that

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<v Speaker 1>lowered um motor reflex time. Right. They did some tests that,

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<v Speaker 1>uh that I know that. They did a couple one

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<v Speaker 1>where they were supposed to stroke a specific keystroke on

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<v Speaker 1>the keyboard in a certain amount of time. In another way,

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<v Speaker 1>they showed a white recognition test where they showed like

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<v Speaker 1>a white square on the screen and you were supposed

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<v Speaker 1>to react when you saw the white square. And they

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<v Speaker 1>found that people that had the latent toxoplasmosis would, uh

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<v Speaker 1>there was a lag that were definitely behind the rest

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<v Speaker 1>of the crowd and recognizing these things. Right, you know

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<v Speaker 1>to that study, your buddy, a guy named Dr Yaroslav Flag.

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<v Speaker 1>You just talked to him. I just talked to the

0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:07.520
<v Speaker 1>guy on the phone. This guy is arguably the pre

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<v Speaker 1>eminent expert. He's a parasitologist out of Charles university in Prague.

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<v Speaker 1>Did you call Prague? Just now? No way, And I

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<v Speaker 1>need to expense that because I did it on my

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<v Speaker 1>cell phone because you know, I'm not comfortable talking about

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<v Speaker 1>my desk because I'm neurotic because I have tlaxo plasmosis.

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<v Speaker 1>Paying right, So this uh Dr flager Um, who is arguably, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>the the foremost authority toxoplasmosis um. He conducted that study

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<v Speaker 1>Uh anymore? Right? He? I think he conducted eleven and

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<v Speaker 1>in nine of the eleven studies, Uh, there was a

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<v Speaker 1>significant difference between people who are infected with taxoplasmosis and

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<v Speaker 1>people who weren't. In humans, there's actually an equal and

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<v Speaker 1>opposite effect defined by gender. This is what I thought

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<v Speaker 1>was really interesting. It's odd, it was almost dead opposite

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<v Speaker 1>the way men and women were affected by this thing. Yeah. So,

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<v Speaker 1>and women just kind of got kind of got out

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<v Speaker 1>of head in this deal. Yeah when you say so,

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<v Speaker 1>these are the women we love that toxoplasmos has infected women.

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<v Speaker 1>That's my favorite women who have who have are t

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<v Speaker 1>infected and not Chuck's car, but the other kind. Uh.

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<v Speaker 1>They tend to be a warmhearted, outgoing, conscientious, moralistic. These

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<v Speaker 1>are wonderful women, the salt of the earth. Yeah, but

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<v Speaker 1>also outgoing, you know, I mean like everybody loves a

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<v Speaker 1>gal who's willing to just try anything. And um, you

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<v Speaker 1>know is is but it also has a line which

0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:41.480
<v Speaker 1>is moralistic. So yeah, men, though men got the bat

0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:43.720
<v Speaker 1>into the stick, we did. We tended to be uh,

0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:48.040
<v Speaker 1>stupid er but more loyal? Is stupid or a word?

0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:51.880
<v Speaker 1>Are you toxoplasmatic? I am less intelligent, more loyal, frugal,

0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:55.400
<v Speaker 1>which was interesting, and mild tempered and dogmatic. Did you

0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:59.720
<v Speaker 1>say dogmatic? I did not, so dogmatic meaning inflexible basically,

0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:02.720
<v Speaker 1>but they're both basically Guys who are infected with toxo

0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:08.160
<v Speaker 1>plasmosis are jerks and women who are infected are cool. Yeah,

0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:10.760
<v Speaker 1>but they're both neurotic. That was the one shared trait, right,

0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:13.120
<v Speaker 1>And so I talked to Dr Flagger and I was asking,

0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:16.120
<v Speaker 1>you know, where are we as far as understanding how

0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:22.040
<v Speaker 1>toxo plasmois could affect us physiologically our brain? And um,

0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:24.480
<v Speaker 1>one thing I saw that kept coming up as neurotransmitters.

0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:28.760
<v Speaker 1>He said. The likeliest candidate is dopamine, or dopamine as

0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:32.440
<v Speaker 1>he put it. He said, it increases levels UM. And

0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:36.560
<v Speaker 1>he also has found that there are increased levels of

0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:41.800
<v Speaker 1>UM testosterone and men lowered levels of testosterone and women

0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:45.559
<v Speaker 1>who are infected with toxoplasmosis. So he he said in

0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:48.600
<v Speaker 1>his opinion, that would account for it. Again, he's he's

0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:52.920
<v Speaker 1>a stickler and pointing out um correlation not causation. We

0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:57.200
<v Speaker 1>are definitely at the correlation stage and understand absolutely plasmosis

0:13:57.200 --> 0:14:01.320
<v Speaker 1>can affect human behavior. But he's finding some really cool stuff. Yeah,

0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:03.640
<v Speaker 1>that's interesting about the It kind of makes sense with

0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:07.240
<v Speaker 1>the testosterone levels because they found that, like we said earlier,

0:14:07.280 --> 0:14:11.160
<v Speaker 1>sixty seven percent of Brazilians are infected with this stuff. Uh,

0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:14.960
<v Speaker 1>and countries they found where uh, there were a lot

0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:17.679
<v Speaker 1>of people infected with this or more likely to have

0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:22.640
<v Speaker 1>masculine sex roles or more divergent gender roles are more

0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:26.240
<v Speaker 1>pronounced distinction among exactly, Like the men go out and

0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:28.280
<v Speaker 1>their masculine they do the hard work, and the women

0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:32.040
<v Speaker 1>they work inflexibly exactly. Yeah, and the women are just

0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:35.560
<v Speaker 1>like that's my man. Yeah, I felt very interesting. Yeah,

0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:38.880
<v Speaker 1>I mean think about it. If the population is infected

0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:44.480
<v Speaker 1>with a latent toxic with latent toxoplasmosis, then yeah, this

0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:48.480
<v Speaker 1>would conceivably alter cultures. Still a little hinky if you

0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:50.880
<v Speaker 1>ask me, I don't know, man, it's still it's still

0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:54.040
<v Speaker 1>new research. But I'm thinking it's to look like this

0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:56.520
<v Speaker 1>parasite rules the world. Well it could because we rule

0:14:56.560 --> 0:15:01.080
<v Speaker 1>the world, were ruled by toxoplasma. Ergo oxo plasma rules

0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:03.640
<v Speaker 1>the world. I think it's a bunch of factors. That's me,

0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:08.239
<v Speaker 1>that's my camp, so you know. UM Flagger also conducted

0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:11.760
<v Speaker 1>us study back in two thousand two, UM in Prague

0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:16.560
<v Speaker 1>where he is, the driving test he I think it

0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:19.920
<v Speaker 1>was a hundred and sixties seven people who were identified

0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:23.840
<v Speaker 1>as the causes of car accidents, either as pedestrians or drivers,

0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:26.960
<v Speaker 1>which I thought was also interesting. And um he found

0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:32.080
<v Speaker 1>that people with toxo plasmosis are two point six five

0:15:32.520 --> 0:15:35.880
<v Speaker 1>times more likely it's almost three times it's likely to

0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:38.520
<v Speaker 1>be involved in a car accident. Is someone who's not infected.

0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:41.760
<v Speaker 1>I think that goes back to the latent reaction time.

0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:44.760
<v Speaker 1>Wouldn't you think it could be the delayed reaction Again

0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:50.240
<v Speaker 1>though there's there's well yeah, yeah, the are motor skillsops right,

0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:54.280
<v Speaker 1>crash sure, um, or if it makes us more reckless,

0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:56.680
<v Speaker 1>like if you're a man, right, because we said that

0:15:56.760 --> 0:15:59.200
<v Speaker 1>that you're more willing to break rules if if you're

0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:02.800
<v Speaker 1>a man infective with taxola lights screw it exactly. Or

0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:04.960
<v Speaker 1>this Carl stopped for me if I went in front

0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:07.920
<v Speaker 1>of it, that kind of thing. But again we're we're

0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:10.920
<v Speaker 1>at the cause where the correlation not causation stage, so

0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:15.280
<v Speaker 1>everyone points that out. It's entirely possible that people in

0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:19.040
<v Speaker 1>Prague who have cats and would be more likely to

0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:23.320
<v Speaker 1>be infected with taxoplasmosis are also more likely to um

0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:26.800
<v Speaker 1>zone out while driving thinking about how Princess Lady would

0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:29.360
<v Speaker 1>look really good in a little cattre that you saw

0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:31.080
<v Speaker 1>inline that morning, And they said it could be a

0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:33.240
<v Speaker 1>personality thing, which I thought that was a little hanky too.

0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:40.040
<v Speaker 1>But there's also a correlation between schizophrenia and toxoplasmosis. Not hanky, No,

0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:43.960
<v Speaker 1>this is a there's a there's a definite link. Uh.

0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:47.320
<v Speaker 1>And there's also a neurotransmitter called nitric oxide. This is

0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:50.440
<v Speaker 1>not flagger. Flager actually said that he had not done

0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:53.560
<v Speaker 1>much research on nitric oxide or nitric oxide as he

0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:57.680
<v Speaker 1>called it. But actually, some guys from Toledo, my hometown,

0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:01.000
<v Speaker 1>some psychiatrists have been researching into it and there are

0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:06.560
<v Speaker 1>increased levels of nitric oxide in schizophrenics and uh toxoplasmatics

0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:09.960
<v Speaker 1>and schizophrenics or or more likely to own cats, which

0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:13.640
<v Speaker 1>I thought was odd. So says the University of Maryland, right,

0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:18.040
<v Speaker 1>they own cats because the taxoplasmosis and the neighbor's dog

0:17:18.080 --> 0:17:20.680
<v Speaker 1>tell them to write. Actually, not University of Maryland, sorry,

0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:23.879
<v Speaker 1>Stanley Medical Research Center in Maryland. I just want to

0:17:23.880 --> 0:17:25.679
<v Speaker 1>clear that up. So, Chuck, what do you think? You

0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:28.040
<v Speaker 1>think it's still hinky? I think it's slightly hinky. I

0:17:28.080 --> 0:17:31.320
<v Speaker 1>think there's something to it, but I think it's um.

0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:33.520
<v Speaker 1>Like I said, I think it's one of many factors. Probably.

0:17:33.520 --> 0:17:36.240
<v Speaker 1>I don't think you can chock up the machismo of

0:17:36.280 --> 0:17:40.560
<v Speaker 1>the Brazilian man to cat boo just yet. So that's taxoplasmosis.

0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:43.720
<v Speaker 1>But um, if you are into parasites or this podcast

0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:46.680
<v Speaker 1>has piqued your interest, Chuck and I would both strongly

0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:50.359
<v Speaker 1>recommend that you watch that new show Monsters Inside of

0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:53.160
<v Speaker 1>Me on Animal Planet. What is it Wednesdays at nine?

0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:55.760
<v Speaker 1>Wednesdays at nine. It's cool show. Yeah, cool graphics like

0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:58.680
<v Speaker 1>CG They get inside your body. Isn't like as if

0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:01.720
<v Speaker 1>you were a parasite. It's yeah, our parent company, Discovery

0:18:01.760 --> 0:18:04.920
<v Speaker 1>definitely threw some money at this one. It looks very cool, definitely. Yeah,

0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:07.840
<v Speaker 1>so check that out. And we also have tons of

0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:11.040
<v Speaker 1>cool stuff. You can also check out the Monsters inside

0:18:11.040 --> 0:18:14.040
<v Speaker 1>of Me website. Yeah, Robert Lamb, Robert Lamb wrote some

0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:16.960
<v Speaker 1>ki cool stuff and actually we have to give him

0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:19.480
<v Speaker 1>a big thanks for pointing us, uh the in the

0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:22.520
<v Speaker 1>right direction for research on this this particular podcast. He

0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:26.359
<v Speaker 1>knows what he's doing. He's parasitastic. And of course, um,

0:18:26.440 --> 0:18:28.840
<v Speaker 1>how Stuff Works dot Com has tons of stuff on it,

0:18:28.920 --> 0:18:30.840
<v Speaker 1>and if you're interested, you can also read all of

0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:32.960
<v Speaker 1>our blog posts on it. There's like five million of

0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:37.160
<v Speaker 1>them and each one's better than the last. Yeah. That's

0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:40.480
<v Speaker 1>it for plugging, isn't it. So yeah, plug heavy, which

0:18:40.640 --> 0:18:46.640
<v Speaker 1>means buddy, it is time for a listener mayo. So, Josh,

0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:50.080
<v Speaker 1>I'm just gonna call this, uh, we're awesome because we

0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:53.080
<v Speaker 1>saved a woman's life. Yeah, this is crazy. It is

0:18:54.240 --> 0:18:58.000
<v Speaker 1>slightly hanky, but I'll take I'll take credit. Uh. Bonnie

0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:02.159
<v Speaker 1>from Boulder, Colorado wrote in, and Bonnie says, this, Hi, guys,

0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:04.639
<v Speaker 1>stuff you should know just saved my life. The facts

0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:07.360
<v Speaker 1>for these. I was driving home and had just finished

0:19:07.359 --> 0:19:10.320
<v Speaker 1>listening to your hyper Miling podcast. As a result, I

0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:12.119
<v Speaker 1>was only going forty miles per hour on a stretch

0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:15.399
<v Speaker 1>of highway where I usually go sixty. All of a sudden,

0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:17.040
<v Speaker 1>there was a pair of headlights right in front of me.

0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:19.360
<v Speaker 1>Some genius was going the wrong way in the same

0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:22.600
<v Speaker 1>lane of the highway as me. Short story even shorter.

0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:24.680
<v Speaker 1>I ended up facing the wrong way on the highway

0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:28.080
<v Speaker 1>thanks to some recent rain and some awful skidding and sliding,

0:19:28.440 --> 0:19:30.600
<v Speaker 1>But due to the late hour, lack of other cars,

0:19:30.600 --> 0:19:34.160
<v Speaker 1>and my slow speed, I avoided hitting anything. Who knows

0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:35.639
<v Speaker 1>if I would have had a head on collision if

0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:37.760
<v Speaker 1>I had been going my normal speed, But I do

0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:40.880
<v Speaker 1>know that thanks to YouTube and you're always enlightening podcasts,

0:19:40.880 --> 0:19:43.920
<v Speaker 1>I will never have to night. Many thanks. You're immensely

0:19:43.960 --> 0:19:49.680
<v Speaker 1>appreciative listener and fan. Bonnie of Boulder, Colorado, Thank you, Bonnie. Awesome. Honestly,

0:19:49.880 --> 0:19:52.080
<v Speaker 1>what if she would have been going twenty miles an

0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:54.080
<v Speaker 1>hour that could have made all the difference? Oh yeah, definitely,

0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:56.280
<v Speaker 1>even if it was just a fluke thing, I'll take credit.

0:19:56.760 --> 0:19:58.800
<v Speaker 1>Even if it wasn't fluke, we still picked up an

0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:01.240
<v Speaker 1>indentured servant for a lot. Yeah, and I personally I

0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:02.600
<v Speaker 1>think we should get a key to the city of

0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:05.679
<v Speaker 1>Boulder show. Yeah, I've always I've been England for one

0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:07.760
<v Speaker 1>of those for a long time. Key to any city,

0:20:07.800 --> 0:20:10.439
<v Speaker 1>No Boulder, Okay, Yeah, I think this is this is

0:20:10.480 --> 0:20:15.240
<v Speaker 1>our end for sure. Maybe a T shirt even sure? Yeah,

0:20:16.640 --> 0:20:19.040
<v Speaker 1>life and all I got is this lousy T shirt.

0:20:19.080 --> 0:20:20.840
<v Speaker 1>That's a good one. If you have any good T

0:20:21.000 --> 0:20:24.080
<v Speaker 1>shirt ideas or any instances of how Chuck and I

0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:27.240
<v Speaker 1>saved your life, you can send them in an email

0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:36.080
<v Speaker 1>to stuff podcast at how stuff works dot com. For

0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:38.520
<v Speaker 1>more on this and thousands of other topics. Is it

0:20:38.600 --> 0:20:41.959
<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot com. Want more how stuff works,

0:20:42.240 --> 0:20:44.440
<v Speaker 1>check out our blogs on the house. Stuff works dot

0:20:44.440 --> 0:20:49.720
<v Speaker 1>com home page. Brought to you by the reinvented two

0:20:49.760 --> 0:20:52.280
<v Speaker 1>thousand twelve camera. It's ready, are you