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It's a bit of creative writing, mostly. Fungi evolve, that's what they do. And they evolve very rapidly. They also have great staying power, with spores that ha
by bdamm 5y ago
It's a bit of creative writing, mostly. Fungi evolve, that's what they do. And they evolve very rapidly. They also have great staying power, with spores that have covered every square millimeter of the earth pretty much for the entire history of life on earth. You're breathing some in right now.
Animals evolved warm-bloodedness partly to improve resistance to environmental fungi. Meanwhile, insects (bees, ants, others) actually farm fungi as part of their food and for defense. This all points to a really profound and fundamental fact: We have been co-existing with fungi every second of every person's entire lives.
If fungi are killing more people, it's because people have changed, not the fungi.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- Dotnaught 5y ago>Animals evolved warm-bloodedness partly to improve resistance to environmental fungi I was listening to a podcast recently that discussed how human average body temperature has been declining in recent years while heat tolerance of fungi has been rising (thanks to the climate). The result is that our bodies are less capable of preventing fungal infections through heat and fungi can be pretty deadly if unchecked.
- everdrive 5y agoThat's pretty interesting. Are there any guesses as to why body temperature is declining?
- edejong 5y agoHere is my hypothesis. Our body temperature is expensive and evolutionary not 'stable'. In the past, it would make sense that in environments with lower bacterial threats, the group would select for lower body temperature in order to preserve energy. In order to do that, individuals with too low a body temperature would be removed from the group due to infections. This would create a balanced system between body temperature (energy expenditure) and bacterial immunity. With the development of antibiotics, this changed. The previous bottom of the group is not culled anymore, removing the barrier of the imbalance. Therefore, the group is 'safely' selecting for lower body temperatures.
- bdamm 5y agoAnd so a new pathogen is emerging to fulfill the void once dominated by bacterial infections. Makes sense..
- Enginerrrd 5y agoMy money is on the same endocrine disupters that are lowering testosterone levels, lowering sperm counts, and likely increasing obesity issues.
- astrange 5y ago> My money is on the same endocrine disupters that are lowering testosterone levels, lowering sperm counts The studies that found this also found that 1. sperm counts stopped and went back up again 2. men with lower testosterone have more children.
- Dotnaught 5y agoIt was a Radio Lab (Fungus Amungus): https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/fungus-amungus https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/fungu... The theory is that in wealthy countries with good public health, there's less need to maintain a high body temperature to fend off threats. The show said that human body temperature "has been steadily declining for decades at a rate of, like, .05 degrees Fahrenheit per decade." (though not in less developed countries)...average is said to be more like 97.5 degrees.
- kk58 5y agoInterestingly in Ayurveda this is called kapha dominant body and it occurs when eats a food heavy in kapha heavy foods like sweets, dairy, cheese So it's possible this reduction reflects a change in our diets
- astrange 5y agoWhy are sweets and cheese in the same category? Cheese is closer to meat nutritionally.
- happyconcepts 5y agoWe are all being slowly hibernated?
- edejong 5y agoYou probably want to link the podcast: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/fungus-amungus https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/fungu...
- matheusmoreira 5y ago> human average body temperature has been declining in recent years What? More details and citations are needed.
- ipsum2 5y agoWhy not Google it yourself? The first few results: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201028171432.htm#:~:text=In%20the%2016%20years%20since,are%20roughly%2097.7%C2%B0F https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201028171432.h.... https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2020/01/human-body-temperature-has-decreased-in-united-states.html https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2020/01/human-body-te... https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-human-body-temperatures-cooling-down/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-human-body-te...
- matheusmoreira 5y agoBecause I'm not the one who claimed body temperatures were decreasing.
- ipsum2 5y agoIf I claimed that it was raining in San Francisco right now, do I need to provide a weather report, or would you be able to find it yourself?
- matheusmoreira 5y agoI wouldn't even have replied to your post had you claimed that.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- eloff 5y agoWas with you up to: > If fungi are killing more people, it's because people have changed, not the fungi. That's an overreach. It could be either or both. Obviously fungi are evolving rapidly as you yourself point out.
- bdamm 5y agoRight; but they've been evolving rapidly the entire time. So they're still doing what they've always done. If the environment is changing, and people are changing, and that's causing us to be vulnerable to conditions we weren't previously vulnerable to, then that's a problem caused by people changing. These stories look for a villain, and seem to end up villainizing the fungus, which is good for sensationalism but not very useful for understanding what is actually happening.