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Fungi can be very potent. There is a form of fungi called Cordyceps that invade the brains of ants and change their behavior in a way that increases its spread.
by antiviral 5y ago
Fungi can be very potent. There is a form of fungi called Cordyceps that invade the brains of ants and change their behavior in a way that increases its spread. Here's a clip by Attenborough explaining it best:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuKjBIBBAL8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuKjBIBBAL8
They even made a movie about this jumping to humans called "The Girl with all the Gifts"
- lifty 5y agoThey also made a video game inspired by it, called The Last of Us. One of my favorite games.
- tonyhb 5y agoThis is where the inspiration for The Last of Us came from. Another form of this is in Cicadas: https://www.npr.org/2021/05/18/997998920/the-fungus-thats-making-cicadas-sex-crazy https://www.npr.org/2021/05/18/997998920/the-fungus-thats-ma... The fungi is essentially a cicada STD which eats at their bodies.
- astrange 5y agoMammals are much more resistant to parasites though - we have better immune systems, a high internal body temperature, and don't use pheromones. All of those are essentially there to prevent fungi from mind controlling us.
- eloff 5y agoIt's David Attenborough.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- ctoth 5y agoReminds me of this fantastic short novel: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27238610 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27238610