Users who Dugg This
BeShirtHappy
13460 Followers
BeShirtHappy
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Lederhosed
1192 Followers
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hasslinthehoffAug 19, 2010
Now we'll all have to buy tiny little shotguns to take them down.
antdudeAug 19, 2010
FOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!! Nom nom!
remingtonhAug 19, 2010
came here to make the same comment. nicely done.
Closed AccountAug 19, 2010
Or a mini cannon!
challenge9000Aug 19, 2010
We could use Plants too.
namja23Aug 19, 2010
I prefer a lighter and a can of Raid.
harmorAug 19, 2010
...Or we can just step on them.
timmyftwAug 19, 2010
A regular sized shotgun should be just as effective, I hope.
zunit110Aug 19, 2010
Thank God for the Oatmeal, or else I would have been blown away by this.
gbabyfreshAug 19, 2010
That's a different parasite.
jjuanml22Aug 19, 2010
This account has been closed by the user
zarokimaAug 19, 2010
Same kind of thing, though.
yacksAug 19, 2010
I, for one, welcome our new zombie ant overloads..
cosworth99Aug 19, 2010
he said load.
yacksAug 19, 2010
Doh! I welcome our new overloaded overlords???
falconearAug 19, 2010
huh huh...load...
digismackAug 19, 2010
I don't.
aenemacanalAug 19, 2010
ZombieAntFunc(bool Zombie)
ZombieAntFunc(bool Zombie, int Strength)
...zombie ant overloads!
korvan504521Aug 19, 2010
+1 internetz for you sir.
scotttech1Aug 20, 2010
amazing
andpoiAug 19, 2010
This was on the discovery channel a longggg time ago.
It isn't any less tight though.
aforsbergAug 19, 2010
But the Bible told me the earth was only around 2000 years old!
hipmanAug 19, 2010
Totally funny and relevant.
caltwentynineAug 19, 2010
Pfft you never read it...
Besides its 6000, durrrp.
mhearneAug 19, 2010
That's according to Bishop Usher. He also placed the first day in mid-October sometime. Who knows how a year was counted back then. I'm sure that they made it more interesting than simple facts and data.
I do believe that people were healthier, and lived 120 years. The optimum now is 86 for men and 93 for women, but more often, I suspect that that most people only live to see 70.
The parasites infecting the ants seem to behave more like viral pathogens than symbiotic dependants. It has been going on for a long time, and probably warrants further investigation.
Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
Closed AccountAug 19, 2010
People were much healthier back than due to lack of medical equipment and modern farming and food storage techniques. Our lifespans are so much shorter now due to the side of effects of vaccines and antibiotics.
In other words, you are a f**king idiot.
paraswarmAug 19, 2010
@mhearne
I'll ignore the first 3/4 of your post since mjk340 covered it. Suffice it to say, human lifespans have greatly increased over the millenia, correlated to our improving technology, medical advancements, quality of life, not being hunted by animals, etc.
However...
"The parasites infecting the ants seem to behave more like viral pathogens than symbiotic dependants. "
You ever seen a virus create a fungus? How do you explain the very first picture at the top of the article page? The stalk blooming from the ant's head - does that look like a virus to you?
Closed AccountAug 19, 2010
It's actually a common myth that people used to live longer in biblical times. I first heard it from my mom several years ago. Apparently it was spread by the church to explain some of the timeline gaps one would expose if they were to study the bible in any kind of detail. It is, however, bulls**t to the same degree as Paul Bunyan and his big Blue Ox.
andralynnAug 19, 2010
This information is as old as the parasitic fungus ;P
shamsaelAug 19, 2010
The fungus is well known, what's new is that they found evidence of it having occurred 48 million years ago.
pimpofpixelsAug 19, 2010
We should rename it the Fox News Fungus.
eddiepotatoAug 19, 2010
It would be nice if Fox only infected leaves.
nidstylesAug 19, 2010
Can we have one topic that doesn't have some propaganda in it?
pimpofpixelsAug 19, 2010
A parasite that turns it's hosts into zombies and marches them towards their own destruction? Fox News was the first thing that came to mind.
paraswarmAug 19, 2010
Somebody on a comments thread posting a political joke, whether tasteful or not, is not "propaganda." Go look up what propaganda is.
mrgodaiAug 19, 2010
run for the safe house!
random314Aug 19, 2010
safe hill.
crackinthebox10Aug 19, 2010
actually, there are many more fungi like this, but they are unique to a single type of insect.
paraswarmAug 19, 2010
It makes sense... I'm no expert on mind controlling fungi, but I imagine the mind control chemicals would have to be incredibly tailored to a specific type of species for it to be successful.
Given that most creatures have variations in their anatomy from each other (no matter how small or insignficant), the "secret recipe" for mind control probably doesn't work for multiple species due to the different factors between their nervous systems, etc.
Or it could just be some crazy ass voodoo.
bndocksntv2Aug 19, 2010
FTA: "This article was amended on 18 August 2010. A phrase in the original said: 'This can happen on mass.' This has been corrected."
I truly was expecting a better grasp of phrases such as 'en masse' from the folks at Harvard. Biology should not supplant language fellas.
eddiepotatoAug 19, 2010
Yale grad, huh?
ricker2005Aug 19, 2010
There's really no way to know what the guy from Harvard originally said. He's being quoted in the article, not writing it himself.
zenkittenAug 19, 2010
turn off your flashlights!
keithlolbermannAug 19, 2010
And grab your fleshlights?
iagainstiAug 19, 2010
Does this remind anyone else of Earthbound?
evilmolemanAug 19, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuKjBIBBAL8
antdudeAug 19, 2010
Or http://www.metacafe.com/watch/331826/ant_fungus/ ...
necrozimAug 19, 2010
my god that was an awesome vid! thanks evilmoleman ;D
youstyAug 19, 2010
You should REALLY go watch the Planet Earth and BBC Life documentary series. They're chocked full of amazing stuff like this.
necrozimAug 19, 2010
I try to, when theyre on tv, but for the past 2 years ive not had a tv licence so ive fallen behind on the awesomeness of stuff :(
piieerrrreeAug 19, 2010
Damn nature, you scary!
choobanAug 19, 2010
I was about to say, saw this on the BBC a while ago and it blew my mind. Thanks for the link!
theobviouschildAug 19, 2010
Awesome vid. Thanks for posting.
Of course, now I'm terrified of nature again.
elburro88Aug 19, 2010
It would be wrong to say this fungus hasn't evolved to other living beings. I totally believe that Sarah Palin evolved from this.
keithlolbermannAug 19, 2010
Try harder.
Closed AccountAug 19, 2010
Sarah Palin was conceived by artificial insemination using the frozen sperm of Hitler.
mhearneAug 19, 2010
Please. I'm trying to watch Austin City Limits.
antdudeAug 19, 2010
Ugh, my head...
bigdoglj52Aug 19, 2010
The coolest part to me is how they grow is size and power.
samtheman4808Aug 19, 2010
.......cant.......restrain.....self.........
THATS WHAT SHE SAID!!!!!
pjone88Aug 19, 2010
Zerg!!!
glintscollideAug 19, 2010
SPAWN MORE OVERLORDS!
samtheman4808Aug 19, 2010
im sure you all know what we need to do its only a matter of time before this transfers to humans so now is the time to stock pile guns and ammunition not when there are dead corpses walking the street. youve been warned so dont come crying to me when you get bitten by a zombie i will shoot you in the face.
zaynexzandersAug 19, 2010
I'll bring the cheetos and claymores.
Can you quick scope in RL?
iceman21Aug 19, 2010
The scary thing is that the fungus makes the ant get high up, cling onto a leaf and stay there so it can drop the spores on the ground, if i was ignorant about the possibility of natural selection slowly favouring survival tactics i would say its a very smart strategy for a fungus to have, even going as far as to say that it shows a small form of intelligence.
eddiepotatoAug 19, 2010
Brave comment. Them is fightin' words on Digg!
fordsvt1Aug 19, 2010
The fungi isn't displaying intelligence, it's doing something to the ant that as a bi-product happens to make it display this behaviour, which happens to be good for the fungi, and so it perpetuates. Maybe there were other fungi that caused ants to spin in circles until they die, but since that wouldn't perpetuate the fungi to the same degree, that strain wasn't able to compete.
krayneeumAug 19, 2010
^ This ^
oea420Aug 19, 2010
and this, my friends, is what so many religious people fail to comprehend.
Natural selection like this has been taking place for billions of years. Of course, to us, everything is going to look amazing, one crazy coincidence, dare I say intelligently designed. It's not so much intelligence.
magzineAug 19, 2010
I've very much like to see a fungi that makes ants spin in circles until they die.
No, really, that'd be hilarious.
carbonetcAug 19, 2010
Microbehaviors in individuals lead to the emergence of macrobehaviors in colonies and societies. Ant colonies behave in ways that appear intelligent, but no individual ant is acting intelligently. An ant is just following simple rules, which are a product of evolution (as you said). Whether the colony itself can be considered an intelligent individual is another discussion, since we could make a similar argument about microbehaviors in my cells and neurons leading to my own behavior.
So the fungus and the ant are just following simple rules and this creepy behavior that neither are aware of or intended emerges.
I find that those who attribute intelligence to everything around us tend not to understand the concept of emergence. They assume everything is top-down because it never occurred to them that it could be bottom-up. Bottom-up is just less intuitive, somehow.
antimrbabymanAug 19, 2010
Can this happen to insects other than ants? Can someone that is somewhat knowledgeable of this subject enlighten us.
It will be the first intelligent comment.
eddiepotatoAug 19, 2010
I won't pretend to be very knowledgeable, but I will offer the layman's insight that there are viruses and bacteria which modify human bodily functions in ways that advance their own survival. Coughing, sneezing, and diarrhea all assist in the propagation of the very germs which trigger them.
mhearneAug 19, 2010
All species have diseases and inherent weaknesses which only affect those creatures and no others. Then we have things like flu's that travel from species to species, mutating as they commute.
The first multicellular organisms were created when one single-celled organism consumed another, but instead of being digested, the consumed cell became part of the other. In other words, it became symbiotic; a new creature.
A jellyfish or starfish are simple examples. Amphibians, reptiles or mammals are more complicated ones.
Closed AccountAug 19, 2010
Yes, I first heard about this in David Attenborug's 'planet earth' and it showed many other insects killed by similar fungus (I remember moths and stag beetles, but there where a lot), he also said that it acted to ensure that no one insects eventually dominates the area.
carbonetcAug 19, 2010
The culprit isn't a fungus, but even our own behavior can be influenced by a parasite: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/DyeHard/story?id=2288095
akawillolsonAug 19, 2010
i can haz parasites?
jackhamer45Aug 19, 2010
This was in Life, wasn't it?
Closed AccountAug 19, 2010
Yep, as well as the Planet Earth series too, before that.
Closed AccountAug 19, 2010
So The Happening iz real?
nofate2029Aug 19, 2010
don't forget about the Zombie Snails!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWB_COSUXMw
drcordycepsAug 19, 2010
Finally my name here has been vindicated; just wait for some mad scientists to twist this around on some other order of life.
youngcebAug 19, 2010
who's next on the zombie chain?
Closed AccountAug 19, 2010
I'm stocking up on anti-fungal creme.
mhearneAug 19, 2010
Hope it didn't get under your toenails. That one's _really_ hard to kill!
openandshutAug 19, 2010
Here's a real life example of a better plot explanation than the one in the movie, "The Happening".
Closed AccountAug 19, 2010
"48m" is a little confusing...
fordsvt1Aug 19, 2010
48m = million years is confusing to you? What in hell did you think it meant?
Closed AccountAug 21, 2010
I understood it, but do you think everyone will? Why couldn't they just be clear and write 48 million? It takes too much time to type six more letters? They're trying to conserve pixels?
vonsamaAug 19, 2010
I think we have a problem... shotguns won't work well against zombie ants.
Closed AccountAug 19, 2010
Does anybody know about anti-zombie ants gears?
mhearneAug 19, 2010
Come on - the ants are the victims here. In the name of humanity, we have to spend millions to find a cure. Think of the children!
ascendeddanielAug 19, 2010
My first thought was, "Milliyear?" but megayear makes more sense.
diggerlaterAug 19, 2010
Ants are way ahead of us as a species. There are way more of them than us, they can fly, and the zombie apocalypse happened 48 million years ago for them and barely even slowed them down.
rysticAug 19, 2010
See it in theatres: The Picnic of the Damned
fordsvt1Aug 19, 2010
There are also some weird parasitic organisms that make certain types of insects and arachnids do strange things that ultimately kill the host but prove beneficial to the parasite.
http://listverse.com/2009/07/29/10-fascinating-cases-of-mind-control/
shinkouAug 19, 2010
While it may sound very creepy, the Tibertans and Chinese have been using a certain kind of these cordyceps (cordyceps sinensis - 冬虫夏草) as medicine for thousands of years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordyceps
frostbytAug 19, 2010
Fungus voice
We are the swarm. In your ants controlling them. The hive mind will rule the forest floor one day. The ants are only the beginning.
davethe3rdAug 19, 2010
DAMN, NATURE! YOU SCARY!
chrizzly89Aug 19, 2010
I thought it was over 9000!!!! I was right!!
Lollerskates!
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-----/\-O--/---
----/--/-\/----
------/--------
-----/--\------
----/----\-----
--LOL---LOL--
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psisarAug 19, 2010
Captain Higgins!
fastfuudAug 19, 2010
Something that Batman's Poison Ivy could mutate for humans
useragainAug 19, 2010
Zombie?? MOAR LIEK ZERG!
nidstylesAug 19, 2010
Seriously can we have one topic where politic's are not brought up? I miss the old Digg, before they brought in the political BS.
blackjackjesterAug 19, 2010
I'm not convinced the fungus is "controlling the ant brain", as much as that the fungus has evolved to thrive on ants who's behavior, once infected, is predictable.
If I punch a person, they say ow. This isn't mind control - its just what happens when people get punched. When ants get infected, they flip out and bite plant veins. It just so happens this fungus has evolved to take advantage of this. "Mind Control" my ass.
belthizeAug 19, 2010
It's really trivial to put ants in a lab, not let them get infected and see that they never exhibit this behavior.
Given the limited thought processes available to an ant in the first place (largely limited to go from or go to hive, go CONSTANT * variance distance, pick up or drop object) it's not really all that inaccurate to say the fungus controls their thought processes.
Pedantically you could say it changes the weights for various actions by inhibiting/encouraging chemical release, pretty much same thing.
grey580Aug 19, 2010
So now we know what's controlling Right Wing Conservatives.
gneissisniceAug 19, 2010
A mind controlling fungus? That actually makes a lot more sense than thinking that anyone could really believe the crap they spew.
broxcAug 19, 2010
This is absolutely far-out.
panthusdireAug 19, 2010
This is old (not the article itself per se) I have watched national geographic docu's 15 years ago and they knew about this.
mrbiggles52Aug 19, 2010
PEEELZ HERE!
gneissisniceAug 19, 2010
Holy s**t. What we have here is a real life version of the pokemon Paras and Parasect.
deanrowsAug 19, 2010
Them some old ass ants.
paraswarmAug 19, 2010
Just count your ass lucky every day that in 48 million years they didn't once feel the urge to adapt to controlling humans. Because in that timespan they could have done it. Then we'd be fungus-men.
Picture what could have been. Picture the fungus-porn that would have been all over their funginternet. The human experience on Earth could have been really f**king gross.
chofstoneAug 19, 2010
I new this would come in handy some day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxHW-QGMuZ4