Zombies are real!

[Flishiz]

Sort of
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20090512/sc_mcclatchy/3231765

A species of fly from South America reproducing by laying their eggs on the head of fire ants. As they hatch, the maggots bury themselves in the brain, eating away the rest, causing the ants to "act like zombies."

 

[Doom_bringer58]

I like the sounds of that!

 

[MrSnugglesworth]

Sooner or later, Their going to evolve and attack humans.

 

[letsnoobtehpwns]

Cool! How are we sure that they won't attack use and turn us into zombies...?

 

[3rd rung]

Yea this is nothing new it happens a lot with parasites altering the behavoir of the host animal. It happens with ants and snails. It quite a cool method for getting into their true host. It is mentioned in res evil 4.

 

[iJosh]

That's pretty cool.

Nice find.

 

[Lord George]

So they walk around aimlessly and then their heads fall off? Easiest zombie apocalypse ever.

 

[MasterSqueak]

So they walk around aimlessly and then their heads fall off? Easiest zombie apocalypse ever.

Its the tutorial level.

 

[Nargleblarg]

Excellent exactly as I planned mwuhahaha

 

[TheGuy]

Creepy, could you imagine though?

 

[Ronwue]

Interesting.... zombie ants... but... they need to die first... if it has no brain it doesn't mean it's dead... it's just brain dead or more accurately brain eaten.

 

[Knight Templar]

I saw something like that, is it possible for them to control people?

The brain of bugs is like a web, all sorts of meshed parthways. Its why people trying to create AI want to modle the AI after a bug brain, or at least thats what my programer friend said I've never been able to find anything on the subject.

A human brain is much more complex, you can't kill/remove it and expect anything in the body to keep working for any length of time.

Anyway this seems like a really good way to kill fire ants, as long as they pick a fly that only attacks fire ants. I have heard that we might do something like this in Australia, its not as needed because we allready have something that eats fire ants: The cane toad.

EDIT: Flishiz could you edit your OP to say what this thread is about, for those who don't like to follow links randomly.

 

[deleted_scifidownbeat]

DELETED

 

[Matronadena]

that's just...creepy... amazingly interesting but creepy.

What makes it so fascinating is how the fly larvae instinctively knows which part of the ant's brain to destroy, in what order to insure the ant lives long enough to allow the fly to develop, and wonder off ( which helps the fly expand it's territories).

 

[Cobra Dude]

That is... cool I guess.

 

[Nukey]

eventually this will find a way to humans and evolve so the human's become cannibalistic and hostile, meaning since we have all been practicing for this moment in most of our daily lives i think we'll be just fine

 

[The Political Gamer]

 

[BlackKraken]

Ive always thought its entirely possible that a parasitic lifeform could evolve to take over the human brain.

But i always thought it would be reality television.