4 ms·

> researchers report that they’ve identified the substance, which is contained in globes that they compare to lollipops. 6 paragraphs and two images later, the

> researchers report that they’ve identified the substance, which is contained in globes that they compare to lollipops. 6 paragraphs and two images later, they deign to tell you the identity. I really find this kind of science journalism irritating. It's not a murder mystery, it's a digest (ha) of some research. Just spit it out and don't make me wonder if I've accidentally a word. Then go into how they figured it out and they won't have to obliquely refer to it as the "toxin" or "substance". I suppose other than feeling like they're "real writers" for building the suspense just like that TED talk on Creative Writing taught them, it lengthens dwell times if they drip feed it, which is good for the Metrics. The answer is 3-octanone by the way. See how I could have said that up front and not have to find clumsy workarounds if I needed to refer to it again?

LatteLazy 4y ago
Does anyone care that it's 3-octanone? Would someone read this article with a burning desire to know specifically which toxin it is? I thought it was interesting because (a) I didn't know fungi were (or intentionally) carnivorous and (b) it's interesting that something I've encountered in lavender etc is so toxic to these creatures. I get where you're coming from, but I thought there was plenty of other interesting material in the piece. It was NOT, IMHO, the usual "12 paragraphs of nothing then the answer at the end" that I think we both have come to expect?
- Oxidation 4y ago
  Well not particularly, but the title promises to tell you. In order to delay that, they have, to me, forsaken a lot of clarity of expression (they've had to come up with at least two circumlocutions to keep the secret) for the sake of a trite "payoff". Describing the toxocysts without naming them as "globes they compare to lollipops" is very clumsy too. Compare how? Favourably? And why not just use the word "toxocyst" right there so that when they refer to it later the reference[1] is explicit? Additionally, anyone who knows the words toxo- and -cyst will also have an immediate clear understanding of what it is. It's also argubly adding vagueness because it's missed out that it's specifically the shape, and not any other lollipop-like quality that's been referenced. Look at how it was written in the original paper: > In this study, we show through genetic screens that P. ostreatus relies on a specialized structure, toxocysts, to paralyze the nematode C. elegans. A volatile compound, 3-octanone, stored inside toxocysts... See how they don't tease it, and just get on with saying it and just make it clear first time round? I'd have been marked down for the writing in my English lessons, and I wasn't even being paid to write this stuff. Then again, I wasn't bring marked based on website analytics. [1] "small globes called toxocysts that hang like fruit from the hyphae"
- Symmetry 4y ago
  Not as common as viral or bacterial disease, but fungal infections kill over a million people every year.
  - red-iron-pine 4y ago
    Usually only the old or immunocompromised. not a sign of how dangerous fungi are, but rather how weak the individual is.
    - astrange 4y ago
      One of the reasons mammals are warm-blooded is to stop fungi from growing inside them, so it must've been a problem at some point.
      - sitkack 4y ago
        I wonder if kids body temperature being higher than adults is an evolutionary adaption as well? Off to the sauna!
flobosg 4y ago
You could have checked the actual publication. The answer is right in the abstract: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ade4809 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ade4809
- aaron_m04 4y ago
  Sure, but why not link to that instead of the NYT article?
  - flobosg 4y ago
    Because the NYT article, as opposed to the paper, addresses a wider audience and is written in layman’s terms. Furthermore, if you are curious about the primary source, the NYT piece links to it early on.

LatteLazy 4y ago

Does anyone care that it's 3-octanone? Would someone read this article with a burning desire to know specifically which toxin it is? I thought it was interesting because (a) I didn't know fungi were (or intentionally) carnivorous and (b) it's interesting that something I've encountered in lavender etc is so toxic to these creatures. I get where you're coming from, but I thought there was plenty of other interesting material in the piece. It was NOT, IMHO, the usual "12 paragraphs of nothing then the answer at the end" that I think we both have come to expect?

Oxidation 4y ago
Well not particularly, but the title promises to tell you. In order to delay that, they have, to me, forsaken a lot of clarity of expression (they've had to come up with at least two circumlocutions to keep the secret) for the sake of a trite "payoff". Describing the toxocysts without naming them as "globes they compare to lollipops" is very clumsy too. Compare how? Favourably? And why not just use the word "toxocyst" right there so that when they refer to it later the reference[1] is explicit? Additionally, anyone who knows the words toxo- and -cyst will also have an immediate clear understanding of what it is. It's also argubly adding vagueness because it's missed out that it's specifically the shape, and not any other lollipop-like quality that's been referenced. Look at how it was written in the original paper: > In this study, we show through genetic screens that P. ostreatus relies on a specialized structure, toxocysts, to paralyze the nematode C. elegans. A volatile compound, 3-octanone, stored inside toxocysts... See how they don't tease it, and just get on with saying it and just make it clear first time round? I'd have been marked down for the writing in my English lessons, and I wasn't even being paid to write this stuff. Then again, I wasn't bring marked based on website analytics. [1] "small globes called toxocysts that hang like fruit from the hyphae"
Symmetry 4y ago
Not as common as viral or bacterial disease, but fungal infections kill over a million people every year.
- red-iron-pine 4y ago
  Usually only the old or immunocompromised. not a sign of how dangerous fungi are, but rather how weak the individual is.
  - astrange 4y ago
    One of the reasons mammals are warm-blooded is to stop fungi from growing inside them, so it must've been a problem at some point.
    - sitkack 4y ago
      I wonder if kids body temperature being higher than adults is an evolutionary adaption as well? Off to the sauna!

flobosg 4y ago

You could have checked the actual publication. The answer is right in the abstract: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ade4809 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ade4809

aaron_m04 4y ago
Sure, but why not link to that instead of the NYT article?
- flobosg 4y ago
  Because the NYT article, as opposed to the paper, addresses a wider audience and is written in layman’s terms. Furthermore, if you are curious about the primary source, the NYT piece links to it early on.