Mind-Controlling Parasites and The Last of Us
Bugs that control your brain? More plausible than you think.
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Bugs that control your brain? More plausible than you think.
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Mind-Controlling Parasites and The Last of Us
- Thread starter Robert Rath
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I'd like to say I enjoyed your article, really I would. The problem is that I'm already introverted and you just gave me even more reasons to avoid leaving my room for any reason ever, so it's honestly kind of a net negative. But I did learn stuff at least, so there's that.
Text? Can I warn this fellow for low-content post?Robert Rath said:
Interesting article, though I must admit that however interesting it was, I'm a bit tired of seeing more tLoU articles - there were way to many after the game's release.
As someone getting into Biomedical engineering, it's intriguing to see other organisms be able to alter higher level functions in animals. I wonder if we can make symbiotic organisms for ourselves?Thedutchjelle said:Text? Can I warn this fellow for low-content post?Robert Rath said:
Interesting article, though I must admit that however interesting it was, I'm a bit tired of seeing more tLoU articles - there were way to many after the game's release.
While it is definately a very interesting concept, I feel it still simply translates to 'zombie' in-game.
It might've been much more interesting if long term infection actually led to a passive form of zombie. They are plants/funguy after all, so it might make sense that the more the infection spreads the less human aggression remains. Making them these quiet, gentle wandering fungal beings who won't even be aware of your presence, untill they ultimately root themselves into the ground and complete their cycle.
Now ofcourse the whole "zombie" plot takes a backseat to the more road trip-like journey the characters go on in The Last of Us. But by making the zombification of humanity a much more passive proceeding rather than the usual aggrassive one, it would feel more haunting and eerie, and also side step the standard zombie fare.
I still love this game to bits though.
It might've been much more interesting if long term infection actually led to a passive form of zombie. They are plants/funguy after all, so it might make sense that the more the infection spreads the less human aggression remains. Making them these quiet, gentle wandering fungal beings who won't even be aware of your presence, untill they ultimately root themselves into the ground and complete their cycle.
Now ofcourse the whole "zombie" plot takes a backseat to the more road trip-like journey the characters go on in The Last of Us. But by making the zombification of humanity a much more passive proceeding rather than the usual aggrassive one, it would feel more haunting and eerie, and also side step the standard zombie fare.
I still love this game to bits though.
Hehehe. Fixed.Thedutchjelle said:Text? Can I warn this fellow for low-content post?Robert Rath said:
I love this article, as a side note. I think that other articles haven't bothered with the interesting background information that Naughty Dog build for Last of Us, instead focusing on the (justly deserved, don't get me wrong) character arcs.
But, really, I just like to geek out on The Science Of . Especially science with a thin basis in reality.
We already have billions of those in usIzanagi009 said:As someone getting into Biomedical engineering, it's intriguing to see other organisms be able to alter higher level functions in animals. I wonder if we can make symbiotic organisms for ourselves?Thedutchjelle said:Text? Can I warn this fellow for low-content post?Robert Rath said:
Interesting article, though I must admit that however interesting it was, I'm a bit tired of seeing more tLoU articles - there were way to many after the game's release.
All the bacteria in our gut, the bacteria on our skin.. without them we wouldn't be able to survive.
Is there a way to configure an ad-block type software so I never see that picture of that spider again? It is too creepy.
This is an awesome, yet terrifying, article. If I ever catch the flu I'll make sure my friends and relatives lock me in my house under quarantine so it doesn't affect my brain.
This is an awesome, yet terrifying, article. If I ever catch the flu I'll make sure my friends and relatives lock me in my house under quarantine so it doesn't affect my brain.
Oooh, this is giving me flashbacks to Scott Westerfeld's book Peeps. It was half vampire story, half... well, this article basically. Every second chapter explained in detail about a parasite or a variety of parasites, viruses, bacteria, toxins, etc. that exhibit properties that could be combined into a single, fictional parasite capable of recreating most of the main attributes of a vampire. Great book, and I remember toxoplasma and rabies from it in particular.
Cool stuff. I actually heard a lot about this stuff before. Neat to find out it has it's own field of study though.
Pretty funny, and somewhat creepy ending too, Rath.
Well done. =w= b
Pretty funny, and somewhat creepy ending too, Rath.
Well done. =w= b
I was honestly thinking of something that seems out of a Sci Fi movie but thanks for the correctionThedutchjelle said:We already have billions of those in usIzanagi009 said:As someone getting into Biomedical engineering, it's intriguing to see other organisms be able to alter higher level functions in animals. I wonder if we can make symbiotic organisms for ourselves?Thedutchjelle said:Text? Can I warn this fellow for low-content post?Robert Rath said:
Interesting article, though I must admit that however interesting it was, I'm a bit tired of seeing more tLoU articles - there were way to many after the game's release.
Well, that was unnerving.
The best part about this article is also the worst: Knowing how close that infection is to reality.
I thought it was kind of neat, reading about the whys and hows that make the game's infection more accurate. Like reading that we find them in closed up hallways because if condenses the spore volume, I thought those areas were just more-or-less randomly placed but no, there's a method to it.
I did NOT enjoy however, knowing that the infection is so close to reality that there are already infections that have tampered with our human brains. I mean, I knew about the cat parasite and rabies, but I didn't know about the flu thing or T. gondii.
Well, at least now if/when an infection does hit us, I can be slightly less horrified and be able to say
"Well, I guess I saw this coming."
The best part about this article is also the worst: Knowing how close that infection is to reality.
I thought it was kind of neat, reading about the whys and hows that make the game's infection more accurate. Like reading that we find them in closed up hallways because if condenses the spore volume, I thought those areas were just more-or-less randomly placed but no, there's a method to it.
I did NOT enjoy however, knowing that the infection is so close to reality that there are already infections that have tampered with our human brains. I mean, I knew about the cat parasite and rabies, but I didn't know about the flu thing or T. gondii.
Well, at least now if/when an infection does hit us, I can be slightly less horrified and be able to say
"Well, I guess I saw this coming."
You missed another example of behaviour modification in humans, the threadworm. When it's ready to reproduce, it migrates to the surface of the skin in the leg, at which point it makes the skin feel agonisingly hot. Then when the person takes the hot limb to cool in water, the hot spot bursts, releasing the young worms into the water.
Another cool one is a species of barnacle which takes over a crab, castrates it, and then commandeers its reproductive behaviour, causing the crab to waft the barnacle's young out into the water exactly the same way it does its own sperm.
And there's the fluke that eats a fish's tongue and replaces it, acting exactly like a tongue, except that it eats some of the food on the way down.
I love this shit. It's terrifying. Read 'Parasite Rex' for more - one of the most mind-blowing science books I've ever read.
Another cool one is a species of barnacle which takes over a crab, castrates it, and then commandeers its reproductive behaviour, causing the crab to waft the barnacle's young out into the water exactly the same way it does its own sperm.
And there's the fluke that eats a fish's tongue and replaces it, acting exactly like a tongue, except that it eats some of the food on the way down.
I love this shit. It's terrifying. Read 'Parasite Rex' for more - one of the most mind-blowing science books I've ever read.
I remember when The Colbert Report showed that damn fish-tongue eater. "Jimmy, let's haunt their dreams forever!"Flatfrog said:
So there's a real fungus that takes over other animals bodies, and humans are subtly controlled by viruses. As if I didn't have reason enough to drink.
Wait a minute... the undersides of beds are generally damp, dark spaces prone to fungal growth...[email protected] said:
...
HE'S GOT THE SPORES! PUT HIM DOWN! BURN IT WITH FIRE BEFORE THE REST OF US ARE INFECTED!
OT: I wonder if we could weaponize this?