1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:05,360 Speaker 1: My lady. Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from 2 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: how Stuff Works dot com. Hey you, welcome to Stuff 3 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:16,160 Speaker 1: to Blow your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb and 4 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: I'm Joe McCormick. Hey Robert, what's your favorite Possession movie? Oh? Well, 5 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:23,759 Speaker 1: there's so many. I guess I've reached the point where 6 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: I'm not as into Beamon Possession. I want a movie 7 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:33,120 Speaker 1: about robots possessing people, or alien entities possessing people, or 8 00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:37,560 Speaker 1: of course, um weird uh angelic christ figures from another 9 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:40,480 Speaker 1: planet possessing people, such as in Larry Cohen's God Told 10 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: Me Too. Oh yeah, there you go. How about in uh? 11 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:46,479 Speaker 1: Maybe my favorite is The Visitor, You know that one 12 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:49,560 Speaker 1: filmed in Atlanta in the nineteen seventies. You get to 13 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: see the uh, the old highways and everything, but it's 14 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 1: got that Italian sheen and there's a little girl who 15 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: gets possessed by I think a satan from another planet. 16 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:01,400 Speaker 1: Oh yeah. John Houston ends in that one, right, and 17 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:04,119 Speaker 1: I think a very disoriented Sam Peck and Pop plays 18 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: a doctor in it. Cool. You know another one that 19 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,480 Speaker 1: comes to mind is of is the Toho horror film Matango. 20 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 1: Are you familiar with this? One. I know about it 21 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 1: because you've mentioned it, but I've never seen it. Oh, 22 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:20,679 Speaker 1: it's a it's a fabulous story about a weird fungus 23 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: on essentially a monster island. It's probably somewhere in the 24 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: uh in the region of Monster Island, like the King Kong. Yeah, 25 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 1: and it this fungus takes over people's bodies and gradually 26 00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 1: turns them into not only a fung gi infested humanoid monsters, 27 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:41,040 Speaker 1: but into a straight up locking mushroom of death. That's awesome, 28 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:44,920 Speaker 1: But to what end? Like, what do mushrooms want that 29 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:46,760 Speaker 1: they can't get on their own and they need a 30 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 1: human body for well, you know, mushrooms need to move 31 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: around mushrooms. Mushrooms of course, just need to reproduce and 32 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: spread and continue the genetic mission. And sometimes that involves 33 00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: in fiction walking on two legs or in reality walking 34 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: on say six legs. WHOA. And that brings us to 35 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: our topic today, Robert I would say, this is one 36 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: that has been frequently requested by listeners. I think, um, 37 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: it's a topic that if you're one of these parasite 38 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: fan geeks, like a lot of you out there are, 39 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 1: we know you've probably heard of this before. But we've 40 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: gotten a lot of requests and it's a great topic. 41 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 1: We've never devoted a full episode to it before, so 42 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 1: I think it's finally time to talk about O fe 43 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: O Cortus ups. That's right, especially since there's actually an 44 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 1: update to the story. Yeah, that's the really exciting part 45 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 1: here is that because we've we've touched on it before 46 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: in past episodes, but this time we get to cover 47 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: it in more depth and discuss the latest information. And 48 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:43,359 Speaker 1: the cool thing about the update is that it's it's 49 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 1: definitely a positive one. I noticed very often because we 50 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 1: try to practice responsible scientific skepticism on the show, that 51 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: whenever you get an update to a sensational science story, 52 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: more often than not, the update is that really sensational 53 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: thing you learned last year actually is wrong, right, and 54 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 1: now you know, I can see where that can turn 55 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: people off. Every now and then. I mean sometimes it's 56 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: something like oh, Plute, you know, Pluto has lost its 57 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:09,639 Speaker 1: planetary status and you feel a little hurt by that 58 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: sad trombone. Yeah, or A big one that I've noticed 59 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: with people is finding out or being being told that, say, 60 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 1: a Tyrannosaurs rex had feathers and then that kind of 61 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:25,680 Speaker 1: destroys your childhood dream or your cinematic vision of what 62 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: a t rex should be. And uh, and I have 63 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: I think we were both in agreements that dinosaurs with 64 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: feathers are cool, uh and actually scarier, yeah, and and 65 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: scary especially, Yes, a fuzzy Tarrannosaurus rex, you know this 66 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:43,119 Speaker 1: to be true in your heart, is scarier than one 67 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 1: with just regular lizard scales. Yeah. But I have to 68 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 1: say this case with with the o fiol Cortis EPs, 69 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: this is not a case of feathered dinosaurs. This is 70 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 1: a case of the new scientific information making an already 71 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:03,680 Speaker 1: terrifying scenario even more frightening. And and and it already complex, uh, 72 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 1: system of parasitism even more complicated. Absolutely, So before we 73 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: lather up your brain with those nightmares, I figured we 74 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 1: should take a look generally at behavior controlling parasites as 75 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:19,679 Speaker 1: a sort of class of organism, because that that's where 76 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,800 Speaker 1: the OPEO Court accepts really gets its reputation, is the 77 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 1: fact that it is a fungus that has some control 78 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 1: over the behavior of its host. And it's not the 79 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:31,920 Speaker 1: only organism like this in the world. Oh no, they're 80 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 1: They're numerous examples that we could spend a great deal 81 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:37,320 Speaker 1: of time going through not even all of them, but 82 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 1: just some of the key examples. We're not gonna do that. 83 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: We're gonna hit like maybe three, I think. Uh. But 84 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 1: the thing is, you have to, you know, way, you 85 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 1: have to appreciate these simpler models of of mind control 86 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 1: of parasites in order to appreciate what is essentially the 87 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 1: Mona Lisa of mind control parasites as eyes follow you 88 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 1: no matter where you go. Yeah. Well, and it's just 89 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: it's just the pinnacle of of complexity and and beauty 90 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 1: if you find organisms of this sort beautiful, also like 91 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:12,360 Speaker 1: the Mona Lisa surrounded by people taking pictures of it constantly. Yes, indeed. Okay, 92 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 1: So this first one we're gonna look at is when 93 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:17,480 Speaker 1: you've probably heard of before because it is the result 94 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: of a panic, and I will have to debunk one 95 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: of the creepier parts of the panic about this, but 96 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 1: the organism itself still is very cool. So this is 97 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:30,720 Speaker 1: gonna be Toxoplasma gandhi um. This is a microbial protozoan parasite. 98 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 1: It's responsible for the disease toxoplasmosis and animals and lots 99 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 1: of humans and pets are today already infected with T gandhi. 100 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 1: They get infected at some point in their lives. But 101 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: there's only one known animal host that allows this parasite 102 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:52,600 Speaker 1: to achieve sexual reproduction. And that host is, of course, 103 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:55,839 Speaker 1: our lord and master, the common cat. Uh. It might 104 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: be inside you right now, but if so, it's not 105 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:02,599 Speaker 1: having sex. It's only having sex if it's in your cat. Yeah, 106 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 1: and it's It's kind of like with people that travel around. Uh, 107 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:08,200 Speaker 1: you're more inclined to look after your home, I guess. 108 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:10,400 Speaker 1: And then when if you're staying in a hotel or 109 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:12,960 Speaker 1: a guesthouse, then you know who cares. You can just 110 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:16,599 Speaker 1: rerect the place. That's kind of what occurs with with 111 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:20,479 Speaker 1: with with with the T. Gandhi is that the catalone 112 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:23,600 Speaker 1: is unaffected. It's every other species that seems to be 113 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:27,080 Speaker 1: warped to some degree by its occupancy. Right, So, if 114 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:29,480 Speaker 1: you're imagining what life is like as a parasite, you 115 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 1: might think, Hey, it's great, I can infect all kinds 116 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: of organisms. But that's not necessarily great, is it? Because 117 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: what if you need to get into a cat to reproduce, 118 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: but you're stuck in some other organism You've infected a 119 00:06:41,839 --> 00:06:45,040 Speaker 1: human or something like that. You're basically going nowhere, right, 120 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:47,919 Speaker 1: So many of these parasitic cycles and their love. I 121 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,520 Speaker 1: love looking at illustrations of these cycles. It's it's it's 122 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: kind of a careful platforming video game. You have to 123 00:06:54,279 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: jump from here to here to hear in order to 124 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 1: complete the cycle. And if you miss that jump, your toast. 125 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:03,120 Speaker 1: And also if you jump to the wrong organism, your 126 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:06,400 Speaker 1: potentially toast. Uh. Or if you wind up in the 127 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 1: right organism but end up in the wrong portion of it, uh, 128 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: your potentially toast and so is the host. Right, So 129 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: let's chart those jumps. Let's say you are a colony 130 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: of t Gandhi and you're stuck inside a rat and 131 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: you've got a hanker in for some sexual reproduction. What 132 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: are you gonna do? Like, you don't have a way 133 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 1: to hop out of the rat and go looking for 134 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 1: a litter box to stake out. Uh, you don't have legs, 135 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: So you've got to find some way to get the 136 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:36,400 Speaker 1: rat into the cat. Yeah, You've got to essentially steer 137 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 1: starship rat into the cat. And for a while it 138 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:44,120 Speaker 1: was hypothesized that parasites like this might actually control the 139 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 1: behavior of the host in order to get where they 140 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 1: needed to go. And in the case of rats infected 141 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:51,560 Speaker 1: with T. Gandhi, recent studies have shown that this is 142 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:54,160 Speaker 1: exactly what happens. So I want to look at one 143 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 1: study published in the year two thousand in the Proceedings 144 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:00,160 Speaker 1: of the Royal Society of London b Biological Science is 145 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:04,120 Speaker 1: and this was by Manuel Burdoi, Joanne Webster and David McDonald. 146 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: And this is called fatal attraction in rats infected with 147 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:12,880 Speaker 1: Toxoplasma gandhi. So the study tested the exploration behavior of 148 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 1: rats infected with T. Gandhi and a control group of 149 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:21,160 Speaker 1: uninfected rats in an outdoor pin during the night. And 150 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 1: in these pins there were areas marked with various odors. 151 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:27,520 Speaker 1: So you'd have a neutral smell. This would be clean 152 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:31,480 Speaker 1: straw bedding, a quote own smell like your own smell, 153 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 1: which is the rats own straw bedding. You can probably 154 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 1: guess this smelled like the rats own urine. You had 155 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:40,160 Speaker 1: a rabbit smell, which was rabbit urine, and you had 156 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:43,360 Speaker 1: a cat smell which was cat urine. And what did 157 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,600 Speaker 1: they find. Well, unsurprisingly, the control rats, the rats that 158 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 1: did not have the toxoplasma infection paid a lot of 159 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,960 Speaker 1: visits to the areas marked with their own smell, but 160 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:55,840 Speaker 1: they really tended to avoid the areas that smelled like 161 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 1: cat urine. You don't want to hang out where your 162 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 1: worst nightmare takes bathroom rakes. But the T gandhi infected 163 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: rats made way more visits to the cat urine marked areas. 164 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:10,560 Speaker 1: The way the researchers described this, it wasn't just that 165 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 1: the parasite infection made them less afraid of cats. It 166 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:18,880 Speaker 1: manifested as a kind of bizarre suicidal attraction to the 167 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:21,559 Speaker 1: smell of cats. So it looks like what's happening is 168 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: that T. Gandhi uh manipulates the behavior of its rat hosts, 169 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:30,160 Speaker 1: causing them to wander around in cat country until they 170 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:32,440 Speaker 1: get eaten. And then when the cat eats the rat, 171 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: the rat contains tissue cysts of the T. Gandhi that 172 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:38,319 Speaker 1: infect the cat, and then the protozoan can finally get 173 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: around to some sexual reproduction. And I think this is 174 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:44,360 Speaker 1: interesting because it's it's a really devious trick, but one 175 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:48,160 Speaker 1: that strikes me is not necessarily complicated within the rat. 176 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: It's kind of a flipping of a switch the reversal 177 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:53,040 Speaker 1: of a setting. Yeah. Yeah, I think it's possible that 178 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:55,520 Speaker 1: all you'd have to do here is find a way 179 00:09:55,559 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 1: to turn off the avoidance component of the rats natural 180 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 1: fear respon aunts. Uh And and once you've done that, 181 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:06,760 Speaker 1: the arousal component of the fear response, unchecked by avoidance, 182 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,200 Speaker 1: could sort of lead to these suicidal type behaviors on 183 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:13,360 Speaker 1: its own. Now, that alone is pretty fascinating. I And 184 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:17,920 Speaker 1: I've I've I've written about toxo it seems like countless 185 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: times over the past ten years or so. Um And 186 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:26,160 Speaker 1: I'm always just intrigued by that basic concept. But some 187 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:29,040 Speaker 1: have taken it even further and uh and have looked 188 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 1: at what is toxo potentially doing to humans? Yeah, and 189 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 1: for many years, I think there was legitimate worry that 190 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 1: will if it does this in rats, is Toxoplasma gandhi 191 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 1: leading to some cases of human mental illness or risky 192 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:47,199 Speaker 1: behavior patterns in humans. It's a reasonable thing to wonder about. 193 00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:50,959 Speaker 1: But I do want to quash the panic here. Given 194 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 1: more recent research, I think it's unlikely because um so, 195 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:57,480 Speaker 1: there was a twenty sixteen paper by Karen sugged In 196 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:00,719 Speaker 1: at All published in plos one, and it tried to 197 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 1: track the effects of toxoplasma sero positivity and a sample 198 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:07,680 Speaker 1: of eight hundred and thirty seven subjects, twenty eight percent 199 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:11,320 Speaker 1: of whom were positive, and other than an extremely small 200 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:14,320 Speaker 1: average increase in the number of suicide attempts, there was 201 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:18,840 Speaker 1: no measurable psychological difference in humans with toxoplasma infection in 202 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:22,280 Speaker 1: those without, and the suicide attempt difference is small enough 203 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:25,000 Speaker 1: that it, you know, could be noise, uh to quote 204 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 1: from their conclusions quote On the whole, there was little 205 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:31,200 Speaker 1: evidence that t GANDHI was related to increased risk of 206 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:37,559 Speaker 1: psychiatric disorder, poor impulse control, personality aberrations, or neurocognitive impairment. 207 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:41,240 Speaker 1: So don't worry too much about the toxoplasma in yourself, 208 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:43,520 Speaker 1: all right, That's that's good because because like I said, 209 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:46,280 Speaker 1: I've I've covered toxo enough over the past ten years, 210 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:49,120 Speaker 1: and I've been a cat owner of the past ten years. 211 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:51,520 Speaker 1: So you can't help but fall into some at times 212 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:53,920 Speaker 1: almost kind of supernatural. Thinking about it, you're like, well, 213 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:56,640 Speaker 1: there might be nothing to this, but if there is, 214 00:11:57,000 --> 00:11:59,720 Speaker 1: I sure am around a cat a lot. And and 215 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:03,520 Speaker 1: then you start like second guessing all your motivations in 216 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:07,000 Speaker 1: your life and your behavior and wandering. Just how much 217 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 1: of you is in your in your actions? How much 218 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:12,319 Speaker 1: of it can be blamed upon the cat? Why can't 219 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:15,640 Speaker 1: I stop gambling? It's my cat. Yeah, alright, we're gonna 220 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 1: take a break and we come back. We're gonna roll 221 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:20,040 Speaker 1: sit through some more examples before we move on to 222 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:26,120 Speaker 1: our prime brain hijacker today. Thank hey, alright, we're back. 223 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:29,360 Speaker 1: So this is another favorite of mine, and I've actually 224 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:32,840 Speaker 1: told stories about it, like personal accounts of this parasite 225 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:35,480 Speaker 1: in the past on the podcast, but I'll spare everyone, 226 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:39,839 Speaker 1: uh the the actual tales. But what I want to 227 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:44,320 Speaker 1: talk about our parasitoids from the phylum uh nemato Morpha. 228 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:48,320 Speaker 1: They're also known as horse hair worms because these threadlike 229 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,720 Speaker 1: roundworms resemble the hair of a horse's tail or maine 230 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: and as larva. They take up residents inside a cricket, 231 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,760 Speaker 1: a mantis, a beetle, or other host organism, but as adults, 232 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:04,200 Speaker 1: they're free living organisms that live generally in like shallow 233 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:08,840 Speaker 1: pools of water or really damp soil. Now male and 234 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:11,560 Speaker 1: female horse hair old horse hair worms mate in that 235 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:14,440 Speaker 1: damp soil or the fresh water, and then the females 236 00:13:14,559 --> 00:13:17,400 Speaker 1: lay millions of eggs. So we have a similar situation 237 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:19,560 Speaker 1: though about these eggs have to these eggs that need 238 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:21,880 Speaker 1: to go somewhere. They need to complete this cycle. You 239 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:24,200 Speaker 1: need to get from one place to another, but you 240 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,520 Speaker 1: can't crawl there. Yes, so these eggs what they do 241 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 1: is they they hatch and then the tiny larva insist 242 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:35,160 Speaker 1: on vegetation near the water's edge, so they form these 243 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:38,080 Speaker 1: like hard structures. So let's eat N C Y S 244 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:40,320 Speaker 1: T not I N S I S T. They can't, 245 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,560 Speaker 1: they can't. They can't insist upon anything, but they can 246 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:47,800 Speaker 1: insist a leaf. So they're on the leaf and then 247 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:50,839 Speaker 1: up pops a cricket or other suitable host drops by 248 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:55,040 Speaker 1: and it eats this increase this insisted larva along with 249 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:59,319 Speaker 1: the vegetation, or in the cases of say carnivorous mantis, 250 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:03,199 Speaker 1: it acquires the parasite by devouring an already infected intermediate 251 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:07,080 Speaker 1: hosts such as a mosquito larva. Now, once inside it's 252 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: target host, the cyst covering dissolves and it allows the 253 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:14,120 Speaker 1: juvenile worm to escape, bore through the gut wall and 254 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:18,200 Speaker 1: start absorbing nutrients, and then it grows and grows, just 255 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:24,000 Speaker 1: becoming just a longer and thicker um worm inside the creature. 256 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: Just you imagine it just coiled and coiled inside the 257 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 1: body cavity. So if you're the insect, it's like, congratulations, 258 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:33,480 Speaker 1: you've got a new major organ right. Yeah, it's essentially 259 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:36,320 Speaker 1: a xenomorph. It grows until it's time to just burst 260 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:40,520 Speaker 1: out um and Uh, here's the thing. It'll it'll certainly 261 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:44,600 Speaker 1: abandon ship if the host dies. Uh. And that's that's 262 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:46,920 Speaker 1: what I have observed in the past, Like somebody stomps 263 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:49,920 Speaker 1: a cricket in banned class because they think the crickets gross, 264 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:54,320 Speaker 1: and then this disgusting organism emerges from the cricket. Yeah, 265 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:56,920 Speaker 1: but of course it doesn't want to emerge on the 266 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:00,720 Speaker 1: floor of of your band room. It wants to emerge 267 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:07,160 Speaker 1: near freshwater or damp soil. So how does it get there? Well, 268 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 1: there are two theories here. Uh. One is that the 269 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:14,040 Speaker 1: worm instills a crazed thirst in the host so that 270 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:16,960 Speaker 1: it seeks out water. So it's like, I'm so thirsty, 271 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,640 Speaker 1: I must go to a large body of water, right, 272 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:23,480 Speaker 1: and then the second one is the worm. The second 273 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: theories that the worm simply waits until the host finds 274 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,840 Speaker 1: water on its own and then it bursts forth. Okay, 275 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 1: so it's like I detect that your body is filling 276 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:34,400 Speaker 1: up with liquid. Right now, it's time to jump out. 277 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:36,240 Speaker 1: We must be in an area with liquid. I shall 278 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:40,080 Speaker 1: jump out now and hopefully find the habitat I need now. 279 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:42,120 Speaker 1: According to a two thousand and one paper from the 280 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:48,200 Speaker 1: German journal Zoologishier and Zeiger, the thirst hypothesis is supported 281 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:52,680 Speaker 1: by observation observations of suicidal behavior in infected mandis is 282 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:56,560 Speaker 1: in southern France that seemingly jump into the river and 283 00:15:56,880 --> 00:15:59,840 Speaker 1: give birth to the worm that consumes them. And by 284 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:04,240 Speaker 1: the way, sometimes it's twins. Sometimes they don't have one 285 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:07,880 Speaker 1: enormous uh nematode growing inside and they have to. So 286 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 1: you can't really on the second hypothesis, just waiting until 287 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:16,200 Speaker 1: it's drinking, explain all the like suicidal jumping into water. 288 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 1: Right so it's it seems like there's reason to lean 289 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 1: in the direction of of of of mind, control my manipulation. Uh. 290 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,200 Speaker 1: And then in this case it is as with the 291 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:33,680 Speaker 1: the the rat and taxo seemingly fairly simple. Make your 292 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 1: host feel thirstier than normal when you are ready to 293 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:41,280 Speaker 1: emerge and find water. Well, I admit that's a good one. 294 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:44,840 Speaker 1: But how about some parasitic wasps. Well, I certainly love 295 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:48,320 Speaker 1: parasitic wasps. I love I love wasp and bees in general, 296 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:50,680 Speaker 1: and I continue to find tremendous joy in the fact 297 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:54,360 Speaker 1: that my five year old son's only imaginary friends are 298 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:57,160 Speaker 1: his quote be and wasp friends. So he has, Yeah, 299 00:16:57,160 --> 00:16:59,920 Speaker 1: he has two bees and two wasps. Are they nor 300 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 1: normal sized or they larger than normal their normal size? 301 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:06,080 Speaker 1: And they live on his head or sometimes they're flying 302 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:09,320 Speaker 1: around his head? Uh and uh yeah, and I'll forget 303 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:11,000 Speaker 1: that they're there, and then suddenly he'll bring them up, 304 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:14,000 Speaker 1: and that's I presume they are always there to him. Now, 305 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:17,960 Speaker 1: are they anthropomorphic? Do they speak? No? No, I think 306 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:21,720 Speaker 1: the only difference is that they don't sting, except that 307 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:24,680 Speaker 1: they will sting like monsters or bad guys or something. 308 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:27,560 Speaker 1: I think that's been explained to me. But otherwise they're 309 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:30,200 Speaker 1: just animals. So I really and I really like that. 310 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: But as in two bees and wasps, as my son is, 311 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:37,919 Speaker 1: I don't think he's ready for the truly diabolical. Examples 312 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:43,160 Speaker 1: of parasitic wasps that really out body horror are grimms nightmares. 313 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:46,640 Speaker 1: Al Right, So just a little background parasitic. Prehistoric parasitic 314 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:50,000 Speaker 1: wasps as far back as the Jurassic period, they would 315 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:53,520 Speaker 1: use their pointy um ovipositors, which is a female only 316 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:57,280 Speaker 1: reproductive structure, to lay eggs directly onto living insects such 317 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:02,439 Speaker 1: as caterpillars, which the hatching larva would then consume. But 318 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:05,639 Speaker 1: why lay your eggs on a caterpillar when when with 319 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:09,520 Speaker 1: a little evolution, you can lay them directly inside your victims. 320 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:14,480 Speaker 1: Essentially that you're using that ovipositor as a as a 321 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:17,960 Speaker 1: surgical device, So it grows into a sharp, sometimes saw 322 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:22,600 Speaker 1: toothed instrument that helps a wasps better performed than necessary surgery. 323 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:27,320 Speaker 1: And since the chosen insect hosts tend to take offense 324 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:30,320 Speaker 1: and fight off the wasps. Of advances, the ovipositors also 325 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:33,520 Speaker 1: evolved a pack a venomous punch, and so like the 326 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:36,160 Speaker 1: the end result is you see something like a honeybee, 327 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:40,119 Speaker 1: which doesn't engage in this kind of parasitic activity at all, 328 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:45,399 Speaker 1: but still retains a potent ovipositor. Oh yeah. Now, a 329 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: number of modern parasitic wasps continue this very practice, though 330 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:52,440 Speaker 1: either peppering the outsides, or filling the bodies of their 331 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:56,120 Speaker 1: hosts with sometimes dozens of eggs. Other wasps evolved away 332 00:18:56,119 --> 00:18:58,959 Speaker 1: from the practice, but even with them, for the venomous 333 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:02,840 Speaker 1: stinger remains uh not only no longer an instrument of reproduction, 334 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:06,639 Speaker 1: but a potent biological weapon. But some of the examples 335 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 1: of parasitic wasp eggling are rather straightforward, while others are 336 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:15,159 Speaker 1: are just really diabolical. H. Such is the case of 337 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:20,119 Speaker 1: dino campus cocanelle, a common parasitic wasp of the spotted 338 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:25,560 Speaker 1: lady beetle uh Colio megala macu lata. So the essential 339 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:28,360 Speaker 1: reproductive strategy here is much the same with many other 340 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:32,359 Speaker 1: species of parasitic wasp. She uses her ovipositor to surgically 341 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:36,920 Speaker 1: implant her egg inside the body of the chosen host organism. 342 00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:40,200 Speaker 1: But where this gets crazy, though, is when the actual 343 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:44,000 Speaker 1: emergence occurs, what you might refer to as a chess 344 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:48,120 Speaker 1: burst mitzvah if you will. Uh, that's when that's when 345 00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:51,480 Speaker 1: it gets really weird noteworthy. So normally, uh, you know, 346 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:54,360 Speaker 1: you would expect a host organism to mercifully die at 347 00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:56,520 Speaker 1: this point, you know, I mean, that's how it goes 348 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:59,320 Speaker 1: down in the alien movies. Right, once the xenomorph has 349 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:03,960 Speaker 1: emerged from your boddie, you you blessedly expire. Right, You're 350 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:05,960 Speaker 1: not walking around for a few days with it poking 351 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:08,520 Speaker 1: out of your stomach. Right? Uh? That that would be 352 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:12,879 Speaker 1: a fun Halloween custome, I guess or the puppet built in. Uh. 353 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:16,480 Speaker 1: But but where this example gets gets weird though, is 354 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:19,600 Speaker 1: that not only does the host organism live, not only 355 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:24,200 Speaker 1: does the ladybug live, but a little behavior modification forces 356 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:28,080 Speaker 1: it to hang around and quote unquote guard it's parasite 357 00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:31,920 Speaker 1: baby as it grows into adulthood beneath its protective bulk. 358 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:37,600 Speaker 1: And scientists believe that what's happening here is the secretions 359 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:40,320 Speaker 1: left by the larva when it bursts out might play 360 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:44,479 Speaker 1: a role in reprogramming the host. And then you would think, 361 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:48,600 Speaker 1: all right, well, finally the ladybug gets to die. But uh, 362 00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:50,239 Speaker 1: you know you would you would think, surely it's it's 363 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:52,440 Speaker 1: suffered enough and it can just it can it can 364 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:55,720 Speaker 1: be at peace. But there's no such luck because you know, 365 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:57,240 Speaker 1: this is the insect world and things you're a bit 366 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:00,920 Speaker 1: cruel and and weird. No insect politicians, us, yeah, us 367 00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:04,520 Speaker 1: as the great brundle fly told us. So researchers found 368 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:11,680 Speaker 1: that twenty of manipulated ladybugs recovered normal behavior following this ordeal. 369 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:14,520 Speaker 1: What so they gotta go around with with the memory 370 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:17,240 Speaker 1: of this good thing. They probably don't have episodic memory. 371 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:21,280 Speaker 1: They just that also speaks to just the sturdiness of 372 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:24,240 Speaker 1: of insects. Really, to to thrive in such a cruel world, 373 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:27,000 Speaker 1: you know, you you've got to be incredibly resilient. So 374 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:30,240 Speaker 1: that's one of my favorite examples of of of of 375 00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:36,359 Speaker 1: parasitic behavior parasitic reproduction with organisms. Well, Robert, I think 376 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:39,399 Speaker 1: you're wrong. I think that is an ideal imaginary friend 377 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:43,680 Speaker 1: for a child, because this imaginary friend not only might 378 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:47,560 Speaker 1: sting bad guys and monsters, but could enslave another insect 379 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:50,840 Speaker 1: to protect you from bad guys and monsters on its behalf. 380 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:53,840 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I mean they're ultimately they're kind of terrifying organisms, 381 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:56,720 Speaker 1: aren't they, at least if you're if you're a ladybug 382 00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:00,440 Speaker 1: or say tarantula. So that's another thing I can only 383 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:04,639 Speaker 1: I can see, like some people are afraid of spiders, Well, 384 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:06,240 Speaker 1: then if you're afraid of spiders, then you have to 385 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 1: be a huge wasp fan because you know they go 386 00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:12,399 Speaker 1: around just terrorizing the but Jesus out of out of 387 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:15,919 Speaker 1: spider populations. I don't know if you've ever bust open, 388 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:20,159 Speaker 1: like as a child, dirt dauber nests and see like 389 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:22,320 Speaker 1: all the spiders that they stuffed in there for their 390 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:25,760 Speaker 1: larva to consume. It's pretty wonderful, all right, but still 391 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:29,159 Speaker 1: as beautiful as these examples are. Again, these pale in 392 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:35,199 Speaker 1: comparison to the Mona Lisa of parasitic brainwashing. Right, crowd in, 393 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:37,960 Speaker 1: get your camera ready, it's time to visit the masterpiece. 394 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:42,639 Speaker 1: And so picture this a carpenter ant colony in a rainforest. 395 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:44,879 Speaker 1: You're gonna be in maybe the Amazon or in a 396 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:49,240 Speaker 1: tie rainforest. And so you'll see thousands of ants swarming 397 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:53,119 Speaker 1: around on the nest or traveling out down the trunk 398 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:57,119 Speaker 1: of a tree into foraging trains. But if you look close, 399 00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:00,639 Speaker 1: one of these ants is not moving along with the others. 400 00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:04,600 Speaker 1: Instead of moving along in a train or swarming, it's 401 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 1: frozen in place, and its body is sort of curling 402 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:11,960 Speaker 1: up around itself, almost like it's trying to touch its 403 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:15,680 Speaker 1: head to its anus, and it's curling and writhing and 404 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:19,800 Speaker 1: pulsing its whole body, and it keeps scraping at its 405 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:24,560 Speaker 1: antennae with its four limbs. Something's obviously wrong with this ant. Yeah, 406 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:26,840 Speaker 1: that ends on right at all? No? Uh? And then 407 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 1: finally it falls from its nest to the forest floor, 408 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:33,840 Speaker 1: and from there it begins to move slowly, almost like 409 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:37,840 Speaker 1: it's drunk, sort of crawling around awkwardly, and then eventually 410 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:41,360 Speaker 1: up the stalk of a nearby sapling plant. And when 411 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 1: it reaches just about twenty five centimeters above the forest floor, 412 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:48,840 Speaker 1: it aligns its body with the primary vein on the 413 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,880 Speaker 1: underside of a leaf, and then it clamps down as 414 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:55,160 Speaker 1: hard as it can with its mandibles. The ant will 415 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:58,560 Speaker 1: never leave this spot. Within a few days, the ant 416 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 1: is going to be dead and its jaws will still 417 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:04,399 Speaker 1: be locked onto the vein tissue of this leaf, and 418 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:08,160 Speaker 1: a crazy looking thing will start to happen. A huge 419 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:11,000 Speaker 1: spike starts to grow out of a hole in the 420 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:15,440 Speaker 1: back of the ant's head like this gigantic single devil horn, 421 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:19,399 Speaker 1: growing longer and longer, longer than the ant itself, until 422 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:23,240 Speaker 1: it becomes clear that this spike is a killer mushroom. 423 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:27,160 Speaker 1: It's the fruiting body of a parasitic fungus called Opio 424 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:30,879 Speaker 1: cort accepts unilateralis. Now, there are a lot of species 425 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:35,400 Speaker 1: of related intomate parasitic fungi, each targeting a different host organism. 426 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:40,560 Speaker 1: Unilateralis specifically targets carpenter ants and their close relatives. Now 427 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 1: you might be wondering, why did that observed behavior take place? 428 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,280 Speaker 1: Remember all the stuff the ant did to review then 429 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:52,159 Speaker 1: becomes infected with the fungal parasite. It climbs to a 430 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:56,439 Speaker 1: leaf tis off the forest floor, It clamps on with 431 00:24:56,480 --> 00:25:00,080 Speaker 1: its mandibles. It dies, and then the fruiting body of 432 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:02,720 Speaker 1: the fungus erupts from the ant's head and grows long. 433 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,080 Speaker 1: So why does the ant go to the leaf? Like? 434 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:09,800 Speaker 1: Is this just it's preferred place to die. It's true 435 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:12,960 Speaker 1: that ants are social insects, and Robert, I don't know 436 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:17,600 Speaker 1: if you've read this before. Sometimes they will intentionally remove 437 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:21,399 Speaker 1: themselves from their colony when they develop an infectious parasite. 438 00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:24,280 Speaker 1: I don't know if i've read that before. I certainly 439 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:28,760 Speaker 1: read about them removing infected individuals from the premises. Yeah, 440 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:31,960 Speaker 1: that's definitely true. When they when you detect an infection 441 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:34,240 Speaker 1: on your fellow aunt, it's like, okay, time to go 442 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:37,360 Speaker 1: on a trip, buddy, and they carry you out away 443 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:41,240 Speaker 1: from where you can infect other ants. Um. But yeah, 444 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:42,959 Speaker 1: so you have to be wondering, like, is this some 445 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:46,719 Speaker 1: kind of social insect altruistic act? Is this like the 446 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:50,439 Speaker 1: elephant graveyard for sick ants? Know? The truth is a 447 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:55,000 Speaker 1: lot creepier. Instead, we should ask how does the fungus spread, Like, 448 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:58,120 Speaker 1: how does it reach new hosts? Well, it spreads by 449 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:01,479 Speaker 1: infecting ants with its spo corrors, which are produced by 450 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:05,479 Speaker 1: these fruiting bodies, the bulge just below the tip of 451 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:08,200 Speaker 1: that fungal head spike, which the spike is known as 452 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:14,000 Speaker 1: the stroma. And what's walking around on the forest floors 453 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:17,400 Speaker 1: beneath the dead ant and its head spike, more ants, 454 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:21,960 Speaker 1: more hosts. So the ant doesn't climb the leaf because 455 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:25,200 Speaker 1: it wants to. The ant climbs the leaf because somehow 456 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:29,800 Speaker 1: the fungal infection makes it climb the leaf. The behavior 457 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:31,760 Speaker 1: is not for the good of the ant, it's for 458 00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 1: the good of the fungus. It's essentially going home. It's 459 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:38,720 Speaker 1: it's reaching higher ground and then saying take me home. 460 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:42,359 Speaker 1: Next phase in my my parasitic journey, Yeah, let us 461 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:46,360 Speaker 1: begin the death reign uh so, the fungus often now 462 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:50,720 Speaker 1: gets an additional appellation, not just Opeo cortescepts unilateralice, but 463 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:55,840 Speaker 1: Opio cortcepts unilateralice sin sue latto, which for some reason 464 00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:58,560 Speaker 1: keeps evoking the spirit of like a tool album name. 465 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:02,280 Speaker 1: Does it? Does it reminds me of a Uh so, 466 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:06,080 Speaker 1: since you lato means broadly speaking in Latin, and this 467 00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:09,720 Speaker 1: indicates that scientists believe the correct taxonomy of this species 468 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:13,480 Speaker 1: and its related cousins of fungi basically have not been 469 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:17,120 Speaker 1: fully sorted out yet. Strains of this fungus ultimately might 470 00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:21,600 Speaker 1: get sorted into different genus and species categories. That could change, 471 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:24,399 Speaker 1: because yeah, we have a number of Opio Cortaceps and 472 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:29,439 Speaker 1: also Courtceps as well. I think courtceps is is like 473 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:33,439 Speaker 1: an archaic terminology for like Opio Corteseps used to be 474 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:36,879 Speaker 1: known as court a sceps. A number of these species, 475 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:39,680 Speaker 1: these particular species, when you look at them, uh, the 476 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:41,960 Speaker 1: the older studies are just saying court sceps as opposed 477 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 1: to Opio Cortceps. Yeah. So basically there's some some taxonomic 478 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,480 Speaker 1: stuff that's still being worked out, and so the sinsu 479 00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:50,520 Speaker 1: Lato is on there to let you know, like this, 480 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:53,360 Speaker 1: these words could be different in the future. Yeah. Now 481 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:56,440 Speaker 1: it's someone might be inclined to think that. The scientists 482 00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:59,280 Speaker 1: just realized that everyone had court SEPs down and then 483 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:00,719 Speaker 1: and they thought, well, we need to make that word 484 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:03,040 Speaker 1: a little more complicated. Let's let's add a few more 485 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:05,119 Speaker 1: syllables to the name. Well, I mean a lot of 486 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:07,160 Speaker 1: people still just say court a sceps when they talk 487 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:09,960 Speaker 1: about this. I know I I often do so. One 488 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:12,200 Speaker 1: of the big researchers and o feo court a sceps 489 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:17,240 Speaker 1: has been the entomologist David Hughes at Penn State, and 490 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:19,879 Speaker 1: one of the interesting things he points out about this 491 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:23,000 Speaker 1: is that it's an example of what Richard Dawkins called 492 00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:27,760 Speaker 1: the extended phenotype. So in an organism, the phenotype is 493 00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 1: all of the externally observable characteristics that emerge from that 494 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:37,360 Speaker 1: organism's genome acting within its environment. So your personal phenotype 495 00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 1: includes your hair, your eyes, the shape of your body, 496 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:43,880 Speaker 1: your height, but also your behavior, Like if you like 497 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:46,920 Speaker 1: black licorice, that's part of your phenotype. The way you 498 00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:50,120 Speaker 1: talk is part of your phenotype. But when Dawkins coined 499 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:53,520 Speaker 1: the idea of the extended phenotype. He was pointing out 500 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:57,240 Speaker 1: that the externally manifested effects of our genes are not 501 00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:00,040 Speaker 1: only the parts of our body and the behavior a 502 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:05,160 Speaker 1: viers of those parts, but also external effects and artifacts 503 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:09,480 Speaker 1: within the environment and even within other organisms. So a 504 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:14,440 Speaker 1: beaver's dam is part of the beaver's extended phenotype, and 505 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:18,000 Speaker 1: cars and toasters are part of the human phenotype. But 506 00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 1: these are all things that these organisms have made out 507 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,400 Speaker 1: of the natural world, right, they are products of that 508 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:28,560 Speaker 1: organism's genes interacting with the environment. Now, how does this 509 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:31,000 Speaker 1: apply to the OPEO court ACEPS. Well, look at the 510 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:36,000 Speaker 1: infected ant, Hughes has written. Quote. While the manipulated individual 511 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:40,000 Speaker 1: may look like an ant, it represents a fungal genome 512 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 1: expressing fungal behavior through the body of an ant. So 513 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:47,960 Speaker 1: if the ant's body is doing the climbing and the clamping, 514 00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 1: really it's the fungus and its genes that are driving 515 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:54,040 Speaker 1: the behavior. This is what you're looking at now, is 516 00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:57,560 Speaker 1: a fungal organism. It just happens to be inside an 517 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:00,520 Speaker 1: ant's body. Yeah, it's how different it, I mean, it's 518 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:03,280 Speaker 1: rather different, but it's you could compare it to say, 519 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:07,920 Speaker 1: a human being who's wearing an all leather outfit. You 520 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:10,480 Speaker 1: know they are. They are kind of wearing the carcass 521 00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:13,479 Speaker 1: of a pig. It may be a very stylish carcass 522 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:16,479 Speaker 1: of a pig, but you know, to what extent are 523 00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:19,840 Speaker 1: they You're not looking at pure human anymore. Right, From 524 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:22,840 Speaker 1: from a sort of like a survival and reproduction point 525 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:27,320 Speaker 1: of view, that thing crawling around is fungus. It's not 526 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,320 Speaker 1: ant anymore. It's not insect. So I just wanted to 527 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:33,720 Speaker 1: talk about a few more interesting facts about the the 528 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:37,360 Speaker 1: FEO Court accepts. Now these are previously established facts, right 529 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:39,520 Speaker 1: or yeah, getting into any of the words this is. 530 00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:41,680 Speaker 1: This is not from the new paper yet. So one 531 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:43,520 Speaker 1: of the things is how does the spore get into 532 00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:45,600 Speaker 1: the ant's body. We know, we've said that there's this, 533 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:49,240 Speaker 1: you know, once you create the stroma and it's hanging 534 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:51,840 Speaker 1: off the leaf and it's raining down the death rain 535 00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:55,400 Speaker 1: is falling on the forest floor, it's spreading these spores. 536 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:59,000 Speaker 1: But what happens, Well, the spore enters the ant's body 537 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:01,440 Speaker 1: by penetrating the cuticle, and it does this with the 538 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:05,080 Speaker 1: help of a corrosive enzyme that eats through the ants 539 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:08,600 Speaker 1: tough exoskeleton. So the ant picks up a killer spore 540 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:11,200 Speaker 1: from the rain of death zone, and then the spore 541 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:14,400 Speaker 1: attaches to the ant, and then it pushes through the 542 00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:18,520 Speaker 1: ants exoskeleton with a mix of this solvent enzyme and 543 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:22,280 Speaker 1: mechanical force. And then once the fungal cells are inside, 544 00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:26,480 Speaker 1: they multiply within the fluid of the ant circulatory system. 545 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:29,600 Speaker 1: Now we should we take a pedantic note. Some articles 546 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:32,360 Speaker 1: have been using some articles have been using the word 547 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:36,920 Speaker 1: blood like ant blood um. I think even some entomologists 548 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,240 Speaker 1: would probably say that for shorthand, but there are we 549 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:43,640 Speaker 1: should make clear differences between vertebrate and insects circulatory systems. 550 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:46,640 Speaker 1: Um So, ants and other insects have a very different 551 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:50,280 Speaker 1: kind of circulatory system than vertebrates like us do. Insects 552 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:54,560 Speaker 1: do not have a closed circulatory system of tube shaped 553 00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:59,040 Speaker 1: blood vessels, and they also don't have blood technically. What 554 00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:02,360 Speaker 1: they have is known as an open circulatory system, where 555 00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:06,760 Speaker 1: a pumping organ distributes this heterogeneous fluid around inside the 556 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:09,960 Speaker 1: body cavities and all of the major organs are bathed 557 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:13,160 Speaker 1: in this sort of open sea of fluid. As we said, 558 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:15,720 Speaker 1: the fluid is not blood, but it's this substance known 559 00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:18,760 Speaker 1: as hemal lymph, and the hemal lymph doesn't have red 560 00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:21,840 Speaker 1: blood cells, so it's not the major way of distributing 561 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:25,760 Speaker 1: oxygen throughout the body. Instead, it does distribute nutrients and 562 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:29,120 Speaker 1: it does remove waste, but in a slightly less organized 563 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:31,600 Speaker 1: fashion than the blood of vertebrates. But if you want 564 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:34,720 Speaker 1: to call it blood, uh, just for the simplicity of 565 00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:39,720 Speaker 1: explanation than by all means. Yeah. Now, the parasitic fungal 566 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:43,280 Speaker 1: cells get into this fluid and then they multiply inside 567 00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:46,080 Speaker 1: the ant's body for about sixteen to twenty five days 568 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:48,960 Speaker 1: until they reach the point where the ant begins to 569 00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:56,080 Speaker 1: display the characteristic biting behaviors, the mandible clamping of unilateralis infection. 570 00:32:56,360 --> 00:32:58,440 Speaker 1: The ant bites down on a leaf for another piece 571 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:01,280 Speaker 1: of plant matter, usually the main vein on the bottom 572 00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:03,880 Speaker 1: side of a leaf, with its mandibles, and it doesn't 573 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:06,280 Speaker 1: let go. Now, I wanted to mention a few more 574 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:10,000 Speaker 1: interesting behavioral facts from a study by a team led 575 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:14,360 Speaker 1: by David Hughes that was published in BMC Ecology inven 576 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:18,800 Speaker 1: and they studied unilateralis in a tie rainforest and found 577 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:21,640 Speaker 1: that the infected ants like one thing you might wonder 578 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:24,200 Speaker 1: is how do they get around? Right? Does does the 579 00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:26,840 Speaker 1: fungus actually direct them to, like here, go to that 580 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:30,040 Speaker 1: sapling and crawl up instead of what they found there 581 00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:34,360 Speaker 1: is that the infected ants sort of display random walking patterns. 582 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:37,320 Speaker 1: It's almost like they're they're just sort of like trying 583 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:42,880 Speaker 1: directions randomly, and if they try to climb back up 584 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:46,680 Speaker 1: to their nest in the canopy, convulsions will make them 585 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:49,360 Speaker 1: fall off and fall back down to the forest floor, 586 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:51,920 Speaker 1: so they're sort of bound to the earth. Now. Eventually, 587 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:55,560 Speaker 1: this phase of erratic wandering around stops when they find 588 00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:58,160 Speaker 1: a leaf and then they do the death grip. So 589 00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:01,800 Speaker 1: they say, quote transitions from erratic wandering to death grips 590 00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:06,360 Speaker 1: on a leaf vein were abrupt and synchronized around solar noon. 591 00:34:07,320 --> 00:34:09,480 Speaker 1: That's kind of odd. So if we were to imagine 592 00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:12,399 Speaker 1: this with a like a fictional humanoid zombie, it would 593 00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:16,280 Speaker 1: be like the zombie bumbles around the apartment building until 594 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:19,919 Speaker 1: it just happens upon the roof. Yeah, but once it's there, 595 00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:22,239 Speaker 1: it's it's time to get down. Well, I don't know 596 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:24,799 Speaker 1: what the equivalent would be. It straps itself to the 597 00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:29,560 Speaker 1: helicopter landing pad or something. Um waits for a helicopter 598 00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:31,719 Speaker 1: and then uses that to spread its spores as it 599 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:34,640 Speaker 1: just breaks into a thriller dance. Then that might be 600 00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:37,640 Speaker 1: the final stage really that we're supposed to witness. There 601 00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:40,279 Speaker 1: you go? Or does that? Does that party from Independence 602 00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:42,440 Speaker 1: Day on the roof of the skyscraper or they all 603 00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:46,439 Speaker 1: say welcome now. Once the ant climbs onto a leaf 604 00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:50,120 Speaker 1: and locks onto vein tissue with its mandibles, quote, extensive 605 00:34:50,160 --> 00:34:53,960 Speaker 1: atrophy of the mandibular muscles sets in, and this is 606 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:56,360 Speaker 1: kind of interesting. So it gets the ant to bite 607 00:34:56,400 --> 00:35:00,560 Speaker 1: down and then it attacks the mandibular muscles of the 608 00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:03,600 Speaker 1: ant to say like, okay, you're that. That's it. You're 609 00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:05,960 Speaker 1: not doing anything else with these muscles from now on. 610 00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:09,560 Speaker 1: So it can't really let go, uh, And so it's 611 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:12,600 Speaker 1: it remains stuck to the leaf like that after it dies. 612 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:16,400 Speaker 1: And the atrophy seems to be caused by high densities 613 00:35:16,840 --> 00:35:20,080 Speaker 1: of single celled stages of the fungus inside the ant's head. 614 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:24,080 Speaker 1: So the head fills up with fungal cells and they 615 00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:27,279 Speaker 1: make the mandible muscles atrophy away, and then you're just 616 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:29,719 Speaker 1: locked on there like a vice. So this is all 617 00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:32,760 Speaker 1: pretty terrifying. I mean, there's a reason that this story 618 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:36,160 Speaker 1: and and all the research that's associated with it keeps 619 00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:39,840 Speaker 1: grabbing headlines, it keeps influencing. Uh. You know, not only 620 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:42,799 Speaker 1: are our science journalism, but even our fiction. Uh you know, 621 00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:46,840 Speaker 1: various uh of film and video game properties have have 622 00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:50,880 Speaker 1: been directly influenced by this fabulous model. Yeah, I know 623 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:53,320 Speaker 1: it's been in some movies. I haven't seen the movies. 624 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:56,680 Speaker 1: The a strain of the Court accepts fungus is the 625 00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:59,920 Speaker 1: zombie creating parasite in the video game The Last of Us, 626 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:03,040 Speaker 1: where the basic concede is that this type of parasite 627 00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:05,760 Speaker 1: has jumped into human hosts. Yeah, it's It's even popped 628 00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:08,680 Speaker 1: up in Dungeons and Dragons, where you have a lot 629 00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:10,719 Speaker 1: of you know, fungal creatures in the under dark. And 630 00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:15,840 Speaker 1: the recent campaign Out of the Abyss uh includes some 631 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:20,040 Speaker 1: some some illustrations and descriptions of particular mind controlled fungi 632 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:22,759 Speaker 1: that like take over characters and then eventually causes the 633 00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:24,640 Speaker 1: mushroom to pop out of the top of their skull. 634 00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:28,040 Speaker 1: Is it mushroom shaped on the head or is it 635 00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:30,279 Speaker 1: more like the stroma we've seen here, like a big 636 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:32,640 Speaker 1: spike with maybe a ball. Towards the end of it, 637 00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:35,279 Speaker 1: it was more abstract like that. Yeah, at least the 638 00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:39,080 Speaker 1: illustrations in the book depicted as such. So um so 639 00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:41,759 Speaker 1: it's yeah, it's it's a very inspiring model. And if 640 00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:44,560 Speaker 1: we had, if there had been no further research on it, 641 00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:47,480 Speaker 1: I think it would have continued to inspire us. But 642 00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:49,640 Speaker 1: when we when we come back from this last break, 643 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:53,080 Speaker 1: we will get into this new research that that really 644 00:36:54,040 --> 00:36:59,560 Speaker 1: makes the whole prospect even more terrifying. I think, alright, 645 00:36:59,560 --> 00:37:02,880 Speaker 1: we're back. So what is this recent development in the 646 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:05,520 Speaker 1: world of court accepts fungus. Well, I I will say 647 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:08,000 Speaker 1: I first found out about this uh in an article 648 00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:10,600 Speaker 1: by one of my favorite science writers at The Atlantic, 649 00:37:10,760 --> 00:37:14,560 Speaker 1: Ed Young, who wrote about this in November. So we 650 00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:16,319 Speaker 1: went back and check this out, and some of our 651 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:18,480 Speaker 1: listeners sent us this article and we're like, hey, are 652 00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:21,480 Speaker 1: you ever gonna do you know? Uh an episode on 653 00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:23,600 Speaker 1: the subject. So I guess that's how we ended up 654 00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:27,160 Speaker 1: here today. But believe it or not, the story about 655 00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:31,000 Speaker 1: the Opeo Court ACEPS is even creepier than we first realized. 656 00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:32,840 Speaker 1: I think we've been through a couple of stages of 657 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:36,440 Speaker 1: escalating creepiness, so it has been well established that the 658 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:39,640 Speaker 1: fungus manipulates the ants behavior. It forces it to climb 659 00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:41,920 Speaker 1: up into the air about twenty five cimeters over the 660 00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:45,879 Speaker 1: forest floor and become this possessed spore bomber, just a 661 00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:49,279 Speaker 1: reigning death upon the other ants from its colony. But 662 00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:52,680 Speaker 1: it was not yet understood exactly how the fungus got 663 00:37:52,719 --> 00:37:56,520 Speaker 1: the ants to follow this complex and highly specified behavior. 664 00:37:56,719 --> 00:37:59,680 Speaker 1: After all, this isn't exactly something simple, you know. It's 665 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:02,200 Speaker 1: not just like make the ant freeze in place so 666 00:38:02,239 --> 00:38:05,560 Speaker 1: it's vulnerable to predators, make it want this food instead 667 00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:08,800 Speaker 1: of that food, or make it run around in random 668 00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:12,360 Speaker 1: erratic motion. Uh. It requires the ant to find the 669 00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:16,360 Speaker 1: plant stock, climb up the sapling to a very specific height, 670 00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:19,120 Speaker 1: and then clamp onto the plant with its mandibles and 671 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:23,719 Speaker 1: never let go that. That is like weirdly specified behavior, right, 672 00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:26,399 Speaker 1: And if I had to guess, I'd assume it did 673 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:29,239 Speaker 1: this by invading the brain with its cells and then 674 00:38:29,239 --> 00:38:34,799 Speaker 1: either mechanically attacking or chemically attacking some brain tissues to 675 00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:38,600 Speaker 1: trigger a series of instinctual behaviors in the ant to 676 00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:41,120 Speaker 1: make this take place. Now, there may very well be 677 00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:44,080 Speaker 1: some of that going on in terms of chemical triggering 678 00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:48,520 Speaker 1: of behaviors. Right, there's a twenty seventeen study by Frederickson 679 00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:51,960 Speaker 1: at All in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 680 00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:55,439 Speaker 1: just this year called three Dimensional visualization of a Deep 681 00:38:55,560 --> 00:39:02,440 Speaker 1: learning model reveal complex fungal parasite networks in behaviorally manipulated ants. 682 00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:06,240 Speaker 1: And in this study, researchers created a three D model 683 00:39:06,440 --> 00:39:09,960 Speaker 1: of an ant infected with unilateralis to see what all 684 00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:13,240 Speaker 1: of the fungal growth was doing inside of the ant's body. 685 00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:16,680 Speaker 1: So how did they do this? Well, they use scanning 686 00:39:16,719 --> 00:39:23,239 Speaker 1: electron microscopy and uh so this actually involved making very 687 00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:26,319 Speaker 1: very thin I wanted to say paper thin, but much 688 00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:30,759 Speaker 1: thinner than paper ant slices. They so they took an 689 00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:34,680 Speaker 1: infected ant and sliced it into segments that were each 690 00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:39,600 Speaker 1: just about fifty nano nanometers thick apiece. In in ed 691 00:39:39,680 --> 00:39:42,240 Speaker 1: Young's article, he says that the ants were quote Julie 692 00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:47,000 Speaker 1: end was a really amazing word choice. But the thickness 693 00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:49,800 Speaker 1: of these slices is roughly the length of a single 694 00:39:49,880 --> 00:39:54,759 Speaker 1: hepatitis virus. So we're talking about seriously thin possessed ant slices. 695 00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:57,280 Speaker 1: It made me think about that scene with the garlic 696 00:39:57,360 --> 00:40:01,799 Speaker 1: and good Fellas. I've yeah, I just assumed this is 697 00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:04,000 Speaker 1: like a torture scene with Joe Patty, like he's slicing 698 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:06,839 Speaker 1: people up like garlic. No, that'd be amazing. No. In fact, 699 00:40:06,880 --> 00:40:08,680 Speaker 1: it's a cooking scene. There's a scene where all the 700 00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:12,319 Speaker 1: all the mob bosses are in prison together except for 701 00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:15,200 Speaker 1: them because they pay off the guards and everything prisons great, 702 00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:18,560 Speaker 1: So they just constantly cook and eat delicious food, and 703 00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:21,360 Speaker 1: the like the big boss of the mafia in it 704 00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:25,440 Speaker 1: prepares sauces by slicing garlic with a razor blade, and 705 00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:27,880 Speaker 1: he sliced. They talk about how he slices it so 706 00:40:28,040 --> 00:40:31,399 Speaker 1: thin it would just liquefy in the pan. Alright, So 707 00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:33,560 Speaker 1: in this case though, of course we're not We're not 708 00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:37,880 Speaker 1: slicing garlic. We're sliding slicing infected ants. So they repeat 709 00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:41,520 Speaker 1: this slice and dice number some two thousand times over 710 00:40:41,560 --> 00:40:44,560 Speaker 1: a twenty four hour period. And along the way they're 711 00:40:44,600 --> 00:40:47,800 Speaker 1: capturing images of each slice, and that's with the scanning 712 00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:51,560 Speaker 1: electron microscope, so that's giving you incredibly detailed images of 713 00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:55,160 Speaker 1: very small stuff. Then they're able to stack these images 714 00:40:55,239 --> 00:40:58,040 Speaker 1: to create a three D digital model of the ant 715 00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:01,279 Speaker 1: and This is where AI research is led by Danny Chin, 716 00:41:01,719 --> 00:41:04,759 Speaker 1: Professor of Computer Science and Engineering a University of Notre Dame, 717 00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:08,720 Speaker 1: inters the picture, busting out artificial intelligence and machine learning 718 00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:13,160 Speaker 1: algorithms to analyze the images. They basically train computers to 719 00:41:13,239 --> 00:41:16,960 Speaker 1: tell the difference between fungal and ant cells. Just see 720 00:41:17,000 --> 00:41:20,000 Speaker 1: how much of this organism is AUNT and how much 721 00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:23,280 Speaker 1: of it is invading fungus. You're gonna like the answer. 722 00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:26,759 Speaker 1: A lot of it is invading fungus. And there are 723 00:41:26,800 --> 00:41:29,480 Speaker 1: some illustrations. Robert will try to link some of the 724 00:41:29,480 --> 00:41:31,759 Speaker 1: illustrations on our landing page. Right, so if you want 725 00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:33,560 Speaker 1: to go to stuff to Blow your mind dot com, 726 00:41:33,680 --> 00:41:35,800 Speaker 1: check out the landing page. We'll link out to these. 727 00:41:36,960 --> 00:41:42,279 Speaker 1: These images are terrifying. So they're they're intramuscular pictures, right, 728 00:41:42,320 --> 00:41:44,920 Speaker 1: so you get to see the ants muscles inside it's 729 00:41:44,960 --> 00:41:50,960 Speaker 1: exoskeleton and they're just surrounded by these reaths of fungal cells. Yeah, 730 00:41:51,120 --> 00:41:55,120 Speaker 1: like just imagine like tiny tiny vines growing about round 731 00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:58,879 Speaker 1: every detail inside the muscle tissue. There's one picture we've 732 00:41:58,920 --> 00:42:02,279 Speaker 1: got here that's a three reconstruction of the ant uh 733 00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:06,040 Speaker 1: mandible adductor muscle, and it it looks like it's got 734 00:42:06,400 --> 00:42:08,759 Speaker 1: I hate to invoke my favorite. No, I don't hate to, 735 00:42:08,920 --> 00:42:11,080 Speaker 1: I love to. It's got a crab monster on it. 736 00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:14,719 Speaker 1: There's a yellow crab monster crawling on this muscle. And 737 00:42:14,719 --> 00:42:17,680 Speaker 1: what this actually is is just this huge collocation of 738 00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:23,000 Speaker 1: networked fungal cells. Yeah, so what what they basically discovered 739 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:25,640 Speaker 1: here is that the fungal cells were present through virtually 740 00:42:25,760 --> 00:42:29,239 Speaker 1: all regions of the host ant's body in a way 741 00:42:29,239 --> 00:42:33,040 Speaker 1: that suggested they might be interconnected as well networked even 742 00:42:33,360 --> 00:42:36,120 Speaker 1: And what's more, the stuff was clustered just outside the brain, 743 00:42:36,160 --> 00:42:38,920 Speaker 1: but they didn't seem to be any in the brain, 744 00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:41,960 Speaker 1: which which makes you question a lot of these ideas 745 00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:46,279 Speaker 1: about about you know, brain control, mind control um within 746 00:42:46,360 --> 00:42:49,000 Speaker 1: the ant. I mean, that's almost the exact opposite of 747 00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:50,600 Speaker 1: what I would have thought. I would have thought that 748 00:42:50,640 --> 00:42:54,200 Speaker 1: you'd see most of these cells in the brain invading 749 00:42:54,239 --> 00:42:58,560 Speaker 1: the brain tissue or central nervous tissue to control the behavior. 750 00:42:58,560 --> 00:43:00,719 Speaker 1: I wouldn't expect to see it so much. And you know, 751 00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:03,440 Speaker 1: the legs and the mandibles and all that. Yeah, but again, 752 00:43:03,480 --> 00:43:06,920 Speaker 1: this is the Mona Lisa of mind control parasites. One 753 00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:08,920 Speaker 1: of the things that the the Young points out in 754 00:43:08,960 --> 00:43:11,520 Speaker 1: his article is that other brain parasites. Not only do 755 00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:13,440 Speaker 1: they get into the brain, but in some cases they 756 00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:16,800 Speaker 1: destroy the brain to change an organism's behavior or his 757 00:43:16,960 --> 00:43:19,360 Speaker 1: He points out a flat worm that quote forms a 758 00:43:19,480 --> 00:43:23,960 Speaker 1: carpet like layer over the brain of the California killie fish, 759 00:43:24,239 --> 00:43:27,120 Speaker 1: leaving the brain intact while forcing the fish to behave 760 00:43:27,360 --> 00:43:31,799 Speaker 1: radically and draw the attention of birds. So, yeah, this 761 00:43:31,880 --> 00:43:35,480 Speaker 1: is something entirely more complex going on, But it does 762 00:43:35,520 --> 00:43:39,880 Speaker 1: force us to reconsider the previous notion that this was 763 00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:43,319 Speaker 1: more of just a straight up mind control hijacking of 764 00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:46,800 Speaker 1: the brain. Now, certainly this isn't there. They're not saying 765 00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:50,760 Speaker 1: that there's not some reprogramming of behavior going on here. 766 00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:53,319 Speaker 1: Very well be happening chemically, right, right, there's some sort 767 00:43:53,320 --> 00:43:57,040 Speaker 1: of chemical process probably going on, But there's also this 768 00:43:57,160 --> 00:43:59,919 Speaker 1: network extending throughout the body. I mean, we keep saying 769 00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:04,439 Speaker 1: mind control. That's probably an unscientific term. I know I've 770 00:44:04,520 --> 00:44:06,680 Speaker 1: used it, and that's not quite the right. What we 771 00:44:06,719 --> 00:44:11,040 Speaker 1: should be saying, for scientific accuracy is behavior control, because 772 00:44:11,080 --> 00:44:13,319 Speaker 1: you know, who wants to say what the mind of 773 00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:15,600 Speaker 1: an ant is when possessed by this thing. Though we 774 00:44:15,719 --> 00:44:18,799 Speaker 1: might speculate a little bit on that in a second. Um. 775 00:44:18,840 --> 00:44:22,400 Speaker 1: But yeah, if it's not mind control, is it more 776 00:44:22,520 --> 00:44:27,160 Speaker 1: like body control? Yeah? So the uh, the interesting thing 777 00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:29,040 Speaker 1: about the brain here is that the research is a 778 00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:33,040 Speaker 1: hypothesized that the creature's captive brain essentially captive. Think about 779 00:44:33,040 --> 00:44:36,040 Speaker 1: that this network has has moved throughout the body, taken 780 00:44:36,080 --> 00:44:39,080 Speaker 1: over the body, and the brain is just preserved in 781 00:44:39,120 --> 00:44:43,000 Speaker 1: there like it's amigo brain cancer and a Lovecraft story. 782 00:44:43,040 --> 00:44:45,920 Speaker 1: But it's preserved so they can it can perform the 783 00:44:45,960 --> 00:44:50,960 Speaker 1: final act that is necessary, biting onto the vegetation and 784 00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:55,800 Speaker 1: then never letting go. Wow. Yeah, so it's what's what's worse, 785 00:44:55,880 --> 00:44:59,000 Speaker 1: the the parasitic organism that destroys your brain to control 786 00:44:59,080 --> 00:45:01,960 Speaker 1: your body, or the parasitic organism that holds off and says, no, 787 00:45:02,280 --> 00:45:04,799 Speaker 1: we're not done with you yet, we have one more 788 00:45:04,880 --> 00:45:06,879 Speaker 1: thing for you to do. This is one of those 789 00:45:06,920 --> 00:45:10,000 Speaker 1: findings that's so cool. I am afraid it's going to 790 00:45:10,080 --> 00:45:12,719 Speaker 1: be subject to the to the retraction in a year 791 00:45:12,800 --> 00:45:15,960 Speaker 1: or something, just because doesn't that always have happened? You know, 792 00:45:16,280 --> 00:45:18,920 Speaker 1: they're gonna put feathers on our dinosaur. No no, no, no, 793 00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:20,799 Speaker 1: like in a year, it will be like no, no, no, 794 00:45:20,920 --> 00:45:23,480 Speaker 1: really it is just chemical alteration of the brain and 795 00:45:23,520 --> 00:45:26,920 Speaker 1: they're they're not really controlling the muscles so directly. But 796 00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:29,839 Speaker 1: for now that this is glorious, and I hope I 797 00:45:29,880 --> 00:45:31,799 Speaker 1: hope it's true. I hope this is this is the 798 00:45:31,800 --> 00:45:35,160 Speaker 1: correct analysis. I have a wonderful quote from David Hughes 799 00:45:35,239 --> 00:45:38,560 Speaker 1: here again he's the Associate professor of professor of demology 800 00:45:38,560 --> 00:45:41,279 Speaker 1: and biology at Pinn State who's been doing um all 801 00:45:41,360 --> 00:45:45,480 Speaker 1: this wonderful research with this particular fungus, and he said 802 00:45:45,600 --> 00:45:49,120 Speaker 1: in the press release, we found that a high percentage 803 00:45:49,120 --> 00:45:52,080 Speaker 1: of the cells and a host were fungal cells. In essence, 804 00:45:52,400 --> 00:45:57,839 Speaker 1: these manipulated animals were a fungus in ant's clothing. So 805 00:45:58,040 --> 00:46:01,239 Speaker 1: that's a that's that's the quite a vision. So to 806 00:46:01,320 --> 00:46:04,640 Speaker 1: speculate about being inside the ant's mind if there are, 807 00:46:04,840 --> 00:46:07,239 Speaker 1: if there were such a thing. Yeah, as impossible as 808 00:46:07,239 --> 00:46:09,480 Speaker 1: it is to try and think as an aunt and 809 00:46:09,520 --> 00:46:12,759 Speaker 1: to imagine the ant's experience, Uh yeah, what would that 810 00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:15,360 Speaker 1: be like? Would it be like like you're locked inside 811 00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:18,080 Speaker 1: your body and your body is doing things and you're 812 00:46:18,160 --> 00:46:21,960 Speaker 1: I guess you're also like behaviorally you're modified as well, 813 00:46:22,040 --> 00:46:25,640 Speaker 1: you want to do these things? Uh, and yet you're 814 00:46:25,760 --> 00:46:28,600 Speaker 1: you're you're still able to think. I guess again, these 815 00:46:28,600 --> 00:46:32,960 Speaker 1: are this is all anthrop anthropomorphic complexity when we try and, uh, 816 00:46:33,440 --> 00:46:37,440 Speaker 1: imagine what an aunt thinks, but it is Oh man, 817 00:46:37,480 --> 00:46:41,320 Speaker 1: it's it's just so nightmarish. Fortunately, this could never happen 818 00:46:41,360 --> 00:46:43,920 Speaker 1: in a human being, right well, one would hope, not 819 00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:46,919 Speaker 1: outside of a video game, right yeah, you would hope. 820 00:46:46,920 --> 00:46:50,359 Speaker 1: And I think there's no good reason to think that 821 00:46:50,360 --> 00:46:53,879 Speaker 1: that a fungus like this could parasitize humans. But if 822 00:46:53,880 --> 00:46:56,160 Speaker 1: we just want to hint of that kind of creepiness, 823 00:46:56,480 --> 00:47:00,640 Speaker 1: let's try. Most parasites, it is true, have highly specified 824 00:47:00,640 --> 00:47:05,120 Speaker 1: life cycles where they're really closely associated with their host organism. 825 00:47:05,680 --> 00:47:09,719 Speaker 1: But OPHEO Court accepts, fungi have been documented performing amazing 826 00:47:09,840 --> 00:47:14,719 Speaker 1: quote host jumps, not just two different species, not just 827 00:47:14,800 --> 00:47:22,080 Speaker 1: two different arthropods, but even across literally kingdoms of life. Yeah, 828 00:47:22,560 --> 00:47:25,040 Speaker 1: uh so. A two thousand study in the Journal of 829 00:47:25,080 --> 00:47:30,320 Speaker 1: Molecular Biology and Evolution by Naru Niko and Tacama Fukatsu 830 00:47:30,600 --> 00:47:33,600 Speaker 1: found that though most species of back then they were 831 00:47:33,600 --> 00:47:36,759 Speaker 1: calling it, Court accepts fungus, and though most of these 832 00:47:36,760 --> 00:47:40,560 Speaker 1: were adapted to arthropod hosts like insects and spiders and 833 00:47:40,600 --> 00:47:43,840 Speaker 1: so forth. At the time, about twenty of the known 834 00:47:44,160 --> 00:47:48,200 Speaker 1: three hundred species were parasitic not to arthropods, but to 835 00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:54,200 Speaker 1: hearts truffles. Truffles truffle mushrooms like hearts truffles are are 836 00:47:54,239 --> 00:48:02,000 Speaker 1: fungi of the genus Alapa mices huh So. Using phylogenetic analysis, 837 00:48:02,320 --> 00:48:04,960 Speaker 1: they discovered that the parasites of the heart struffles were 838 00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:12,040 Speaker 1: originally long ago parasites of Cicada nymphs. Quote. The common 839 00:48:12,080 --> 00:48:16,719 Speaker 1: habitats of Cicada nymps and hearts hearts truffles, deep underground 840 00:48:16,800 --> 00:48:21,160 Speaker 1: and associated with tree roots suggests that the inter kingdom 841 00:48:21,280 --> 00:48:26,080 Speaker 1: host jumping from animalia to fungi may have been promoted 842 00:48:26,120 --> 00:48:31,080 Speaker 1: by the overlapping ecological niche of the unrelated hosts. I mean, 843 00:48:31,160 --> 00:48:32,920 Speaker 1: this is so crazy. This is like if someone came 844 00:48:32,960 --> 00:48:35,279 Speaker 1: to you and they said, hey, there's something wrong with 845 00:48:35,600 --> 00:48:38,120 Speaker 1: one of the ferns that I'm growing in my home. 846 00:48:38,400 --> 00:48:40,680 Speaker 1: What's wrong with your ferns? It has tape worms, Like 847 00:48:40,719 --> 00:48:43,120 Speaker 1: you would just say no, no, no, that's impossible. Tape 848 00:48:43,160 --> 00:48:46,040 Speaker 1: We know where tape worms reside. They are not They're 849 00:48:46,040 --> 00:48:49,200 Speaker 1: not going to jump over into another kingdom. Entirely and 850 00:48:49,239 --> 00:48:52,439 Speaker 1: start wreaking. Have it there. Yeah, you normally wouldn't see 851 00:48:52,480 --> 00:48:55,759 Speaker 1: things like this because a parasite needs to be specified 852 00:48:55,760 --> 00:48:57,680 Speaker 1: to its host, like how would he how would it 853 00:48:57,719 --> 00:49:01,600 Speaker 1: even work in a body as different from an ant says, say, 854 00:49:01,640 --> 00:49:04,880 Speaker 1: like a mammal's. So you really hopefully don't have to 855 00:49:04,920 --> 00:49:09,360 Speaker 1: expect anything like that happening. But man, this is it 856 00:49:09,440 --> 00:49:12,360 Speaker 1: is a creepiness. Yeah, it's an example where where naturally 857 00:49:12,360 --> 00:49:16,759 Speaker 1: throws you for a curve here, just illustrating what is possible. 858 00:49:17,360 --> 00:49:19,719 Speaker 1: Um and yeah, so let that let the nightmares fly, 859 00:49:19,840 --> 00:49:22,600 Speaker 1: I guess, but but don't become too paranoid over it. 860 00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:25,560 Speaker 1: I will say, there's one thing working in our favor, 861 00:49:25,600 --> 00:49:28,640 Speaker 1: which is that I read that the Opheo coortcepts fungus 862 00:49:28,680 --> 00:49:33,680 Speaker 1: itself is subject to fungal parasitism. So there is a 863 00:49:33,760 --> 00:49:37,720 Speaker 1: hyper parasite, which is the name for a parasite that parasitizes. 864 00:49:37,719 --> 00:49:43,319 Speaker 1: A parasite hyper parasite fungus that attacks Ophio corticeps and 865 00:49:43,360 --> 00:49:46,560 Speaker 1: Ophio cortceps has to have defensive measures to protect itself 866 00:49:46,600 --> 00:49:52,040 Speaker 1: against this fungal parasite. Parasites within parasites within parasites it's 867 00:49:52,040 --> 00:49:54,920 Speaker 1: parasites all the way down, you know. As we we 868 00:49:55,000 --> 00:49:58,560 Speaker 1: close out here, I do want to mention another favorite 869 00:49:58,600 --> 00:50:02,800 Speaker 1: parasite of mine that is also an opio cortesceps opio 870 00:50:02,880 --> 00:50:07,960 Speaker 1: cortesceps sentences, which imagine people A number of our listeners 871 00:50:08,000 --> 00:50:11,040 Speaker 1: have run across this before, especially if you have visited 872 00:50:11,520 --> 00:50:16,040 Speaker 1: a Chinese apothecary shop or just traveled in the East 873 00:50:16,160 --> 00:50:18,719 Speaker 1: in general. I think this one used to just be 874 00:50:18,800 --> 00:50:21,919 Speaker 1: called cortesceps. Yeah, this is one where you find there's 875 00:50:22,320 --> 00:50:23,680 Speaker 1: there's been studied a lot. There are a lot of 876 00:50:23,719 --> 00:50:25,239 Speaker 1: papers on it, and most of the papers are a 877 00:50:25,280 --> 00:50:29,040 Speaker 1: little older and afford referred to it as cortesceps uh sentences. 878 00:50:29,520 --> 00:50:32,200 Speaker 1: It's native to the mountains of Tibetan Nepal, where it 879 00:50:32,280 --> 00:50:36,920 Speaker 1: parasitizes larva of ghost moths and produces a fruiting body 880 00:50:37,360 --> 00:50:41,200 Speaker 1: uh much like these other cortesceps we've discussed. It's often 881 00:50:41,239 --> 00:50:45,239 Speaker 1: described there as a route that's allegedly half vegetable and 882 00:50:45,320 --> 00:50:49,200 Speaker 1: half caterpillar, and it's exported as an energy booster and 883 00:50:49,239 --> 00:50:54,279 Speaker 1: an aphrodisiac. So according to Lonely Planet, the Tibetans call 884 00:50:54,360 --> 00:50:58,280 Speaker 1: it yartsa gumboo. Uh. But it's highly prized and traditional 885 00:50:58,360 --> 00:51:02,640 Speaker 1: Chinese medicine, where it's known as dong cheung zi choo 886 00:51:03,160 --> 00:51:07,280 Speaker 1: or winter worm summer grass, also known as the Himalayan viagra. 887 00:51:08,760 --> 00:51:10,479 Speaker 1: And you'll see it used in like a gen sing 888 00:51:10,920 --> 00:51:14,480 Speaker 1: like tonic, and the tonic is sometimes used to strengthen 889 00:51:14,560 --> 00:51:16,520 Speaker 1: the body or in the or using the treatment of 890 00:51:16,600 --> 00:51:19,080 Speaker 1: kidney and a lung problem. Now, there there are a 891 00:51:19,320 --> 00:51:22,480 Speaker 1: number of papers out there that look at the the 892 00:51:23,160 --> 00:51:26,719 Speaker 1: the the the alleged medical properties all of this or 893 00:51:26,920 --> 00:51:30,719 Speaker 1: this organism. I have not really researched it myself yet. 894 00:51:30,920 --> 00:51:33,719 Speaker 1: I haven't. I haven't dived into that particular area of 895 00:51:33,760 --> 00:51:35,560 Speaker 1: the research. So that's something we could come back to 896 00:51:35,719 --> 00:51:37,920 Speaker 1: at some point if we wanted to on the show. Yeah, 897 00:51:37,960 --> 00:51:40,000 Speaker 1: I wonder what potential there is. Yeah, it would be 898 00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:41,799 Speaker 1: interesting to tease it depart in the future for sure, 899 00:51:42,040 --> 00:51:43,879 Speaker 1: or to get inside it and erupt from the back 900 00:51:43,920 --> 00:51:46,400 Speaker 1: of its head. Yeah. So, speaking of which, I just 901 00:51:46,480 --> 00:51:49,759 Speaker 1: glanced over at our our producer Alex and uh, there 902 00:51:50,080 --> 00:51:51,680 Speaker 1: there is a small crack in the top of his 903 00:51:51,719 --> 00:51:54,960 Speaker 1: skull a and a fruiting body is beginning to emerge 904 00:51:55,000 --> 00:51:56,600 Speaker 1: from it. So I think that means we're out of time. Man, 905 00:51:56,680 --> 00:51:59,360 Speaker 1: Alex does good work. That's a talented parasite. Yeah, he 906 00:51:59,480 --> 00:52:02,080 Speaker 1: just works through it. He's committed, all right. Uh. In 907 00:52:02,200 --> 00:52:05,000 Speaker 1: the meantime, if you want to listen to other episodes 908 00:52:05,040 --> 00:52:06,600 Speaker 1: of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, heading over to stuff 909 00:52:06,600 --> 00:52:08,239 Speaker 1: to Blow your Mind dot com. That's our mothership. That's 910 00:52:08,239 --> 00:52:11,200 Speaker 1: where we'll find all the podcast episodes going back to 911 00:52:11,200 --> 00:52:14,239 Speaker 1: the beginning of time. You'll find blog post videos, links 912 00:52:14,239 --> 00:52:18,880 Speaker 1: out to our various social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, Instagram. 913 00:52:19,239 --> 00:52:22,399 Speaker 1: Facebook is where you'll find that lovely discussion module. It's 914 00:52:22,400 --> 00:52:24,480 Speaker 1: a closed group that you can join and chat with 915 00:52:24,719 --> 00:52:27,680 Speaker 1: the other listeners as well as your hosts. Oh and 916 00:52:27,760 --> 00:52:29,719 Speaker 1: if you want to support the show, a great way 917 00:52:29,760 --> 00:52:32,800 Speaker 1: to do it is to leave us a positive review, 918 00:52:33,120 --> 00:52:36,440 Speaker 1: give us stars or whatever the the the the rating 919 00:52:36,800 --> 00:52:40,600 Speaker 1: symbol happens to be at whatever system you used to 920 00:52:40,680 --> 00:52:44,480 Speaker 1: listen to the podcast. Yeah, give us a nice YELP review. Yes, 921 00:52:44,640 --> 00:52:46,160 Speaker 1: but hey, you can also get in touch with us 922 00:52:46,239 --> 00:52:48,479 Speaker 1: the old fashioned way. Oh, that's right, And we should 923 00:52:48,480 --> 00:52:50,680 Speaker 1: also mention you should check out the landing page for 924 00:52:50,760 --> 00:52:53,719 Speaker 1: today's episode, where we're gonna link to some images and 925 00:52:53,880 --> 00:52:57,160 Speaker 1: articles we referenced in the episode, But like he said, 926 00:52:57,200 --> 00:52:59,560 Speaker 1: if you want to get in touch with us by email, 927 00:53:00,280 --> 00:53:13,160 Speaker 1: blow the mind at how stuff works dot com for 928 00:53:13,280 --> 00:53:15,600 Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics. Is it 929 00:53:15,680 --> 00:53:16,839 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com.