Ewwww of the Day

I hate my allergies. My inner ears itch! It's driving me crazy.

To be honest I can't really be sure if that's due to the allergies, but I blame them for everything wrong with my health right now.

Croaking and snuffly? Allergies.

That stiff ankle? Allergies.

Arm still a little sore from a tetanus shot? Allergies. Made it worse, I mean.

Anyway, that aside, in more "News of How Awesomely Gross Life Is" I like this post on Genetics and Health about a study looking at how many different species of bacteria live on human skin, and how some areas of the body are more hospitible to colonization than others.

Think of your body as a whole, rich continent, teeming with life and divided into multiple climatic zones where different forms may flourish!

Think of it, and cringe. And then feel bountiful and rich with life, a magnificent, nurturing land--a positive spin will make you feel better.

Note, of course, that bacteria are not necessarily bad. We live in harmony with all sorts of beneficial gut organisms. Other types may simply be neutral.

Then there are the actual nasty ones (like MRSA, which apparently prefers "the moist, soft tissues of the inner nostrils." I'm off to take a hair dryer to my inner nostrils!)

So it's really like anything else, some things good, some bad, some indifferent, and the important thing is not to over-react and, say, start taking hair dryers to anything. (I don't really even own a hair dryer, so no fear there. I may start snorting alcohol-based hand sanitizer, but that's it.)

Ewwww of the Day

I didn't see the BBC series Planet Earth when it first came out, but have been watching on DVD. 

I was just watching the episode about jungles, which reminded me of the Cordyceps fungus. Which, ewww!

I had heard of it before, but blanked it from my memory due to ickiness. (Or having other things to think about.)

It has a very nice strategy, in which its spores settle on an ant or beetle (different types infect different insects) and get into the body. Then they send out filaments, feed on the soft tissues of the body (mmm, delicious ant tissues), get into the brain, and cause the insect to climb upwards towards the tops of plants.

Eventually, the fungus sprouts out of the ant's head, matures, and releases spores to float downward and settle on other ants below. Seriously, ewww. I am fond of mushrooms, especially on pizza, but this is a little much.

I can't deny that it is also fascinating. Nature is full of the simultaneously gross and cool.

I just hope these fungi don't develop the ability to infect humans. It would be practically as bad as a zombie attack. 

My brain! My precious brain!