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ThorGoLucky
Snuggle Wolf
USA
1487 Posts |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 01/15/2010 : 19:42:16 [Permalink]
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Absolutely fascinating, ain't it? This is some brilliant work. Robert Sapolsky talks about it in a way that accessible to lay people like myself. In addition to the Toxo research he talks about the shortening of telemeres (and, by implication, life spans) due to stress.
It's amazing how the Toxo organism has evolved the ability to control the brains of rats -- and, willy-nilly, make humans become motorcyclists and take other crazy risks.
How many other tiny puppet-masters might we have?
One wonders how long it will be until protozoans are used as medical drug delivery systems, as recreational drug dispensers, or as tools for the control of populaces. |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 01/16/2010 : 05:50:55 [Permalink]
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I love parasites, and this is about as good an article as you are likely to find on one. Thanks Thor!
It's always about control with them. They have evolved with their hosts over the eons and have come to fit all too snugly into their world. If some parasite evolves the need to have you dance on the head of a pin, then, if you get infected with it, upon that pinhead you shall dance.
I seem to recall writing a piece on them some time back; maybe a little later, I'll see if I can find it. It's in the SFN archives somewhere.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
 Posted - 01/16/2010 : 06:26:30 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by filthy
I love parasites, and this is about as good an article as you are likely to find on one. Thanks Thor!
It's always about control with them. They have evolved with their hosts over the eons and have come to fit all too snugly into their world. If some parasite evolves the need to have you dance on the head of a pin, then, if you get infected with it, upon that pinhead you shall dance.
I seem to recall writing a piece on them some time back; maybe a little later, I'll see if I can find it. It's in the SFN archives somewhere.
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I do recall asking you a few months back if you could write a "Scattershot" about Toxo and parasites with similar control strategies. Is that what you're half-recalling? Or is your memory better than mine? (Wait a sec... this was about raccoons, right?) |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2010 : 08:22:45 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
Originally posted by filthy
I love parasites, and this is about as good an article as you are likely to find on one. Thanks Thor!
It's always about control with them. They have evolved with their hosts over the eons and have come to fit all too snugly into their world. If some parasite evolves the need to have you dance on the head of a pin, then, if you get infected with it, upon that pinhead you shall dance.
I seem to recall writing a piece on them some time back; maybe a little later, I'll see if I can find it. It's in the SFN archives somewhere.
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I do recall asking you a few months back if you could write a "Scattershot" about Toxo and parasites with similar control strategies. Is that what you're half-recalling? Or is your memory better than mine? (Wait a sec... this was about raccoons, right?)
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No, this was an article. It was titled The Eaters of the Living, or something like that. It covered such neat critters as the barnacle/crab relationship mentioned here but in detail, filarial lymphoma, bott infections and the glorious guinea worm, among other very close associates of ours. It was well illustrated and might have made a few people with loose gag reflexes snap their lunches.
I gave the toxo bug a couple of tries, but couldn't get it going. I'm glad to see someone did.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2010 : 11:43:53 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by filthy
Originally posted by HalfMooner
Originally posted by filthy
I love parasites, and this is about as good an article as you are likely to find on one. Thanks Thor!
It's always about control with them. They have evolved with their hosts over the eons and have come to fit all too snugly into their world. If some parasite evolves the need to have you dance on the head of a pin, then, if you get infected with it, upon that pinhead you shall dance.
I seem to recall writing a piece on them some time back; maybe a little later, I'll see if I can find it. It's in the SFN archives somewhere.
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I do recall asking you a few months back if you could write a "Scattershot" about Toxo and parasites with similar control strategies. Is that what you're half-recalling? Or is your memory better than mine? (Wait a sec... this was about raccoons, right?)
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No, this was an article. It was titled The Eaters of the Living, or something like that. It covered such neat critters as the barnacle/crab relationship mentioned here but in detail, filarial lymphoma, bott infections and the glorious guinea worm, among other very close associates of ours. It was well illustrated and might have made a few people with loose gag reflexes snap their lunches.
I gave the toxo bug a couple of tries, but couldn't get it going. I'm glad to see someone did.
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Oh, Yeah! That rings a bell. I think you mentioned that during our email exchange. |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 01/17/2010 : 09:45:02 [Permalink]
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Found it.
Unfortunately, it seems to have been chopped off. Dunno what happened.
Of all the evolutionary stories, the saga of the parasites is arguably the one of the strangest. These are organisms that depend to greater or lesser extent upon the nutrients and protection of other, unrelated species.
First a bit of nomenclature; what might be a parasite? Is, say, a vampire bat a parasite? Yes, at least by loose definition. One species, of three, feeds solely upon blood. It attacks other animals and when it's eaten it's fill, it abandons it's prey. Female mosquitoes too, rely upon a blood meal to develop their eggs, although the males are nectar-feeders, and these might be considered as pretty much the same. So the dividing line between predator and parasite can be a tad fuzzy in spots. Arthropods such as ticks, fleas and lice are certainly parasites and they will stay on a host for life, or in the case of hard ticks, until the female is ready to lay eggs. Then she must drop off to lay them and dies soon after. Beyond occasionally passing along some pretty nasty microbes, themselves parasitic, these and other tiny exoparasites are pretty innocuous. It is the endoparasites that can, and often do, wreak havoc upon any host they infect -- and at this point, those of tender sensibilities and loose gag reflexes might be well advised to abandon this writing.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 01/17/2010 : 10:02:46 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by filthy
Found it.
Unfortunately, it seems to have been chopped off. Dunno what happened. |
We had database problems a few months ago, and some longer posts got truncated. If you have the original, we can restore it. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 01/17/2010 : 10:13:42 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dave W.
Originally posted by filthy
Found it.
Unfortunately, it seems to have been chopped off. Dunno what happened. |
We had database problems a few months ago, and some longer posts got truncated. If you have the original, we can restore it.
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Damn. I had a lot of effort in that one. Alas, it was written on a now defunct computer and I lost the orginal, among a lot of other stuff. Ah well... Better a little than none at all.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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ThorGoLucky
Snuggle Wolf
USA
1487 Posts |
Posted - 01/18/2010 : 18:28:07 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
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How many other tiny puppet-masters might we have?
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From what I have been learning of brain research, it's like our brains have multiple puppet masters vying for influence. I first heard of this from a Radio Lab episode about morality where peoples brains were scanned while asked questions.
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2006/04/28
Brains are a fascinating subject along with the overarching subject of evolution.
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A parasite that changes animal/human behavior
