Zombies of the Real World

zedbrightlander1

Came across this today. Seemed appropriate for the Event.

Mindsuckers
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/11/mindsuckers/zimmer-text

Zombie Ladybugs!
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RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! :biggrin:

spinnytop

u3u ...I'm going to go build an airtight sterile quarantine chamber and then live in it.


You ever wonder how much of your own behavior is chemically motivated as opposed to being caused by magical thought clouds from heaven?

bulgarex

The more we learn about nature, the more it scares the crap out of me. :eek:

zedbrightlander1

Just remember that in nature, many things are in complete balance.

The article does not mention all of the many good microflora in the world that protect many species from these scary, bad microflora.

Of course, since we a humans, we are mostly concerned about humans and what might protect us, so...

http://oc2cb.com/pdf_articles_interest_physiology/2012_5_16_Bacteria%20in_%20Bodies%20Protect%20Our%20Health.pdf

bulgarex

The ladybugs with wasp cocoons in their abdomens, ants with fungus growing out of their heads, etc. might legitimately accuse those good microflora and fauna of falling down on the job.

Since we are humans, what really scares us is imagining what might happen if one of these organisms managed to "jump" to infecting our species. Of course the critically-acclaimed RPG The Last Of Us plays on that fear in a brilliantly creative and disturbing way.

zedbrightlander1

Perhaps, if you like scary stories about scary insects, you might like to watch this classic Night Gallery Episode: The Caterpillar.

Found it on Hulu (with commercials just like the old days).


Spoiler Alert. Feel free to search the interwebs for other facts about the above.

tfavsb10

I remember as a child me and my cousin where chasing lady bugs, and when we caught it we thought it urninated on my hand, I know now that that was some kind of poison we dusted off on our jackets, ahh childhood... We do stupid and dangerous things when our parents arnt watching. I now know ladybugs are monsterous preditory bugs. I never learned that in school, I will never think of a ladybug as I did before reading this.

bulgarex

Hey, ladybugs are no more monstrous than sharks. Everything has to eat something, and fight off what wants to eat it, in order to survive.

spinnytop

Zombies are fake.

bulgarex

Well, the possible definitions of "zombie" are quite wide these days. In fiction we have supernatural reanimated corpses, people infected by mutated viruses, deliberately bio-engineered monsters. The latter two may not exist yet, but something like them might not be a stretch in the near future. OTOH research into the zuvembie of Voodoo tradition suggests they could be actual products of mind-controlling drugs applied to unwilling victims. And now, of course, we're aware of the parasites brought up on this thread, although to date they aren't known to infect humans. But whether or not you would be willing to include the real-world examples within your definition, for purposes of story-telling the reality of zombies isn't relevant.

Speaking of story-telling, the Champions Universe includes variations on several of the above examples. Besides various supernatural zombies, the supervillain Cadaver uses a technological "zombification" ray pistol to mentally enslave people (with cosmetic side-effects which clearly mark the enslaved). The Edomite monster called a "mind thief" physically merges with a victim's brain to control him or her. There are ways to force a mind thief to flee its victim, but it typically eats the victim's brain on the way out.